A Lot To Live Up To
by Buzzing Spontaneity
Summary: Lily Luna Potter has just started her first year at Hogwarts, and she has an awful lot to live up to. She wants to succeed, but being judged because of her parents is not easy to deal with... I think this is rather bad. On haitus, may be deleted.
1. First Impressions

Lily screwed up her eyes as she felt the tears coming. She had told herself already, she wasn't going to cry, she just _wasn't_. It's not something that Lily Potter did. Her mother and father were standing outside the train window, as the whistle blew, and the train started chugging away. Her Dad jumped up and down for a moment, realising that his tawny owl was no longer on his shoulder, but flying alongside Lily's window. Lily giggled happily as Harry ran alongside the train chasing the owl, until the latter two sped up, and Harry returned to the hysterically laughing Ginny. Froggy, the owl, followed the train for a few more minutes before turning back to his owners.

Lily watched the dense city turn into quieter suburbs as she slowly realised that it didn't matter she was leaving her parents for the first time – she was going to Hogwarts! The tears that had been in her eyes before slowly disappeared, and she settled back in her seat as she thought about how much she would learn at her new school. Lily turned to survey the other people in her compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Her brothers had both run off to find their friends as soon as they got to the station. Uncle Ron had helped her and Harry lift her trunk into an empty compartment, before they went back to talk to the gossiping mothers. Her cousin Rose, who was just starting her third year with Albus, had talked to Lily for a little bit, before her little brother Hugo, a second year, stole her bag and ran off, so clearly Rose had to run after to retrieve it. Lily had sighed, and walked back to her mother's side to say her final goodbye. Lily had been somewhat surprised to find two other first-years in her compartment, a small blonde girl wearing multicoloured glasses, and a tall brunette boy. Suspiciously tall, Lily thought. She wasn't sure if it was the girl's glasses reflecting, but one of her eyes looked violet.

Lily suddenly noticed that the two children had been staring at her strangely. Well, the boy had been staring at her with fascination and awe on his face, and the girl was looking at her strangely. There was a slightly inquisitive expression in her eyes, and she was watching Lily like she could explode at any moment, or start spewing dungbombs out of her ears. Lily presumed this wasn't because of her red ringlets – there were many small branches of the Weasley family tree in Hogwarts at the moment.

"Are those your _parents?_" the boy squeaked. Lily was slightly surprised at his tone. She did look rather like her mother, despite her ringlets, and had the eyes of her father, though they were deep brown, not green. She nodded, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously. It was a slightly stupid question.

"You mean, _Harry Potter_ is your _dad?_" Again Lily nodded, her eyes like slits.

"That is _so cool!_" The boy was practically at an ultrasonic level. "Your dad is like, _famous! _He _killed You-Know-Who!_"

Lily's ears were starting to hurt. It was hard to believe such a tall person could go so _high_. "To be honest, I would prefer it if you called him Voldemort. That scum doesn't deserve to have his name revered," she said coolly, watching the brown haired boy shrewdly.

The boy seemed utterly starstruck, and completely failed to notice the chilly air Lily gave her words. "Jared Diggory," he said, sticking out his hand with a dazed look in his eyes. Lily rolled her eyes and shook it briefly.

"Lily Potter." She still had her eyes narrowed – this boy was bugging her.

"You know, sometimes, first impressions are really hard to take back. I'd stop staring if I were you." The small blonde girl spoke for the first time, directing her comment at the Diggory boy. Lily looked at her, reminding her of a friend of her parents.

"Is your mother called Luna, by any chance?" Lily asked the girl, whose eyes widened a little. _Yes, _Lily thought. _Her right eye is definitely violet._

"Yes, Luna Thomas, though she'd never admit it. How did you- oh, wait, she's friends with your mum and dad. I'm Astra, and my brother is Cyrus, but he's not here right now. I think he ran off to find the food trolley, he's always hungry," the girl said, without much pause for breath. "Oh, Jared, stop staring, you're making me uncomfortable, and I'm not even the one you're star- what are you doing?" Astra interrupted herself again.

Lily had suddenly gasped, climbing on to her seat to try and reach a large wicker basket which bore a strong resemblance to a picnic basket, and sat on the top of her trunk in the luggage rack. She caught the front of the basket with the tips of her fingers and pulled it forwards. The basket suddenly tipped, and there was a loud hiss from inside.

"Is that a snake? I don't like snakes, they're not nice, they can _kill _people just by _looking_ at you!" Jared was rather hysterical. His eyes had widened, and the blood had drained from his face. He looked petrified.

"No you dolt, he's a cat. Big difference. Snakes don't sound like that," Lily said, exasperated. She caught the top of the basket and pulled the lid off. A small tuxedo cat climbed out, and jumped down, finding Lily's seat by the window, and sat down in the centre of the warm spot. Lily turned to find both other occupants staring at her cat. "What?" she asked.

Astra was the first to come out of her reverie. "Um… your cat is a metamorphmagus?" she said tentatively. "I didn't think that cats could be metamorphmagi…" She trailed off, hypnotised by the small, curled up ball of fluff on the seat.

Now Lily thought about it, her cat could seem quite odd to people who were not used to him. He was entirely black, except for his paws, belly and muzzle. They, at this moment, were red. "Umm… I don't remember what the lady in the shop said, but he's not a metamorphmagus, they are only human," Lily explained. "All I know, is that all his fur that isn't black changes colour, I think when he feels like it." Lily picked up her cat, sat down, and then plopped him on her lap, exposing the fact that his red fur had turned blue. The cat glared at her, clearly affronted. He jumped off her lap, then went to look at Astra. He sniffed her hand, gazed impassively at her, then seemed to judge her worthy, jumped on her lap, and promptly fell asleep. "His name is Jim."

"Why were you so worried that he was a snake?" Astra asked, absentmindedly stroking Jim as he dozed on her lap.

Jared looked uncomfortable at the question. "Um, well, um, he, um, snakes, um, _snakes are scary_," he finally spat out. His eyes widened, as, much to his horror, Lily burst out laughing.

"_Snakes are scary!_" She mimicked. "Snakes aren't _scary!_" she cried, between bouts of laughter. She leaned forwards, putting her head in her hands, and continued to laugh uncontrollably.

Suddenly, the compartment door opened. A boy, similar in looks to Astra, but with two blue eyes instead of just one, and brown hair instead of dirty blonde, stood there, taking in the scene – Jared looking terrified, with his white face and wide brown eyes staring at Lily; his twin sister, gently petting a small, colour-changing cat, and watching Lily like she was a specimen in the zoo; Lily Potter, curled up on her seat in utter hysterics. The boy walked in, and sat in the spare seat between Astra and the window. He also assumed the fascinated expression Astra had upon her face, waiting for Lily's laughter to subside.

Slowly, they did, though mirth was still etched all over her little face, and her red curls were strewn all over it. "How can you be _afraid_ of _snakes_?" Lily asked Jared, still fighting back giggles.

The tall boy continued to look uncomfortable. "Well, you never really know whether they want to kill you or not…" His voice trailed off, as he realised how pathetic his argument really was.

"Don't be ridiculous, few snakes want to kill you all the time. That's only the demented, troubled ones. They rarely think, 'oh no, a human's coming, must kill them all,'" Lily explained. "They normally actually have quite interesting things to say – snakes aren't stupid. I don't know you." She directed the last comment at the new boy, who, along with Astra, was still staring at her.

"That's not really surprising, seeing how we have never met before," the boy said, continuing to stare at her. "I'm Cyrus. Astra's twin."

"So you're first year too." It was more of a statement than a question, but Cyrus replied to her anyway.

"Of course."

"Wait, what?" Jared asked, his face assuming an incredibly confused expression. "How can you know whether or not snakes have anything interesting to say?"

Lily's eyes widened as she realised her mistake, remembering what her father had always told her.

"Never back yourself into a corner," he had said, looking at the six-year-old Lily intently. She had just had a conversation with a snake. Lily remembered thinking how green his eyes were. She had wanted to know why she didn't have such pretty eyes too. "Wizards don't tend to like hearing that people are Parselmouths, so don't let them if you don't have to."

_Shoot,_ Lily thought. _Stupid corners._ "Um, well, I, um, I'm- I'm a-"

Lily sighed in relief as she was interrupted by the food trolley. She jumped up a little too enthusiastically, as she did not consider food the most important thing in the world, but this went unnoticed by the two boys, as their reaction had been much the same. Only Astra remained seated, still watching Lily, but after a moment, gently prised Jim off her lap, and went to buy some food.

Lily was normally able to buy most of what she wanted, as she was really quite well off. Her parents, both being Aurors, had quite slow jobs now Voldemort was dead, but her dad had been left the fortunes of both his parents and his godfather, neither of whom were poor. The family home had remained for quite some time number 12, Grimmauld Place, partly due to the masses of concealment charms all over the building. It tended to hide the house from the press. However, the family had moved when they had Lily, all the way down to Dover, giving the house in Grimmauld Place to Teddy, as well as Kreacher, who was going to need it when he moved out from his grandparents' house. However, Lily, finally having free rein, did not know where to start. Eventually she settled on a few pumpkin pasties, a packet of cauldron cakes, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and, her favourite, a large pile of chocolate frogs. They were addictive.

Lily was surprised when she turned around, and the boys had even more than her, despite the fact that Cyrus had allegedly just eaten. Astra had a significantly smaller pile, being one who did not feel the need to eat until her sides burst.

The countryside rolled by the windows as the sun slowly descended. Lily registered it was a Saturday, so she wasn't sure whether or not she had lessons the next day. She didn't really mind either way, because she was itching to get on her new broom and fly around the school, even though technically, it wasn't permitted for first years to have their own brooms. Her parents had tried only half-heartedly to remove her Firebolt from her stubborn grasp while packing. They had also 'failed to notice' that Lily had nicked the old Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map from her brother James's trunk. James actually had failed to notice. Lily was looking forward to when he did. She liked getting excuses to knock out her brother. She had never actually succeeded, due to her parents, but she liked trying. Her brother was _mean_. She was the only sibling that had taken up such violent hobbies as boxing and archery. Her first bouts of magic had also been stunning James. The family had a feeling that she would excel in curses, hexes and jinxes. Lily was definitely the type of person on the offensive. Her beater skills in Quidditch were suspiciously good.

Lily sighed, and took out her music player from her shoulder bag. It was pretty much a muggle iPod Touch, but had been enchanted by her grandfather so that it ran on magic, rather than electricity. She had begged for one for ages after she saw that one of her muggle friends had a similar model. Lily switched it to shuffle, and it started playing a track by Breaking Benjamin. _Something's getting in the way… _Lily loved that song. _Something's just about to break; I will try to find my place in the Diary of Jane…_ She started absentmindedly humming along, until Jim's ears pricked, and he jumped on to her lap, with a meow that told her James was coming.

"_He's angry isn't he?" _Lily asked her cat. Everyone was once again staring at her oddly, but before she had time to explain, her cat nodded once, and Lily turned off her iPod, hiding it back in her bag, preventing James from trying to break it again. That had happened before, so Harry was fairly annoyed with having to constantly repair it.

At that moment, James stormed in, his floppy dark brown hair falling down to his eyes, which were hazel. Lily didn't understand why, but he made most girls swoon. This annoyed her. It just made his already large head bigger.

"_Lily! Where are they!_" James was shouting as he walked through the door. Lily noticed that there were a few girls in the compartment across from her watching James with excessive interest. For once, he didn't notice. "Lily!"

Lily adopted her most innocent expression. "Have you lost something Jamesie Poo?" His ears reddened slightly at the use of the name he hated.

"You know perfectly well I haven't lost anything, you took them," James said, leaning over Lily, his voice quiet and menacing.

Lily glared defiantly right back in his face, and said sweetly, "Losing things and then blaming your sister, who, incidentally, is three years younger than you, is not very becoming, James Potter. I do not know what you are talking about, so if you actually told me, maybe I could help." James' face had been gradually getting redder as Lily spoke, her words incensing him.

"Fine! Do you know what has happened to the Cloak and Map?"

"Maybe you left them at home. I haven't seen them."

James was familiar with Lily's excuses by then. "Just because you haven't seen them doesn't mean you don't know where they are, I did not leave them at home, _tell me where they are!_"

"Say please."

James' face screwed up in concentration; he seemed to be facing some sort of internal struggle, until Albus suddenly appeared behind him. Albus took in the smug expression on Lily's face, and noticed that James seemed to be trying very hard to resist the urge to hit his little sister. This would have shocked most people, but Albus knew Lily. It was a mistake to pick on her. Last time James had stolen something of Lily's, he had had the bruise for weeks.

"James, let it go!" Albus was tugging on James' arm, trying to get him to leave. Unfortunately, Albus was not having much effect, having the slight frame of a Seeker against the burlier Keeper. James' glasses were slipping down his nose as he struggled half-heartedly against his little brother. Albus' green eyes seemed to gain an air of celebration as he realised that he and Lily had won this battle. James gave his little sister an absolutely evil glare, before turning on his heel and leaving. Albus stood with his hands in his pockets, watching Lily retrieve her iPod from her bag.

"You OK?" Albus asked.

Lily nodded her head. "Yeah, fine. No problems here." Albus smiled slightly. He could not think of any other eleven-year-old girls who could truthfully tell someone they were absolutely fine after being confronted by their 14-year-old brother. Lily was an odd child. He turned to go, noticing as he did that the girls across the compartment were now watching him, as James had already left. Albus' ears turned red as he recognised them as other third years, Hufflepuffs. Apparently he was good looking too. He chose to ignore this observation. People staring at him because he was basically a mini Harry Potter without glasses was annoying enough, without stupid giggling girls in the background.

Lily resumed her position of staring out of the train window. Astra was watching Lily suspiciously.

"You spoke to your cat."

"Huh?" Lily wasn't really listening.

"I said, you spoke to your cat. And you said that you have conversations with snakes," Astra was simply watching Lily. It was a little disconcerting.

"So? It's easy to speak to cats and snakes. You open your mouth and talk."

"Normally they don't talk back."

"Who said they have to?"

"The definition of conversation. One person talks, the other talks back. Therefore, you can't have a conversation in which only you speak." It turned out that Astra was a sharp girl.

_This is why I'm atheist_, Lily thought._ God wouldn't make such awkward corners. Or at least only corners that have a secret exit._ "To be honest, that's sort of private…"

"Oh. Well, you don't have to tell me. I was just curious."

An awkward silence descended over the two girls. It went unnoticed by the boys, however, who were in the middle of a heated debate concerning Quidditch.

"No, the Chudley Cannons are _jokes_, they are not the best team!" said Jared hotly.

"I admire the Chudley Cannons for their spirit, not their results," pointed out Cyrus. "It's really quite ridiculous how people are so dependent on their team's place in the leader board. How many other teams can you think of who keep coming back, even though they keep losing?"

"The Tottenham Tornadoes are the best!" said Jared, completely ignoring Cyrus' last comment. "They are at the top all the time, and-"

"Oh, _no,_ not _another_ one!" interrupted Lily. "Seriously, the Tornadoes have only been top twice in the last 10 years, and you must've been a complete doofus to believe otherwise. Don't you even look at the leader board? The Harpies are the best!"

The conversation continued in that vein for quite a while, before a tall girl with bright blonde hair and a Ravenclaw uniform opened the door. The Head Girl badge on her chest shone in the lamplight as she told them that it would be a good idea to get changed into their robes. Astra and Lily promptly forced the boys outside of the compartment and closed the blinds, allowing some privacy as they changed. Lily shoved her jeans and black t-shirt into her trunk, putting on her robes instead, but remained in her banana yellow converse. Astra also remained in her earlier shoes, which were slightly odd – fluorescent yellow wellies over blue and white striped tights.

"We're going in the lake, I don't want to get my feet wet," she explained, with the air of someone trying to tell a two-year-old that two plus two equals four, not 22.

The girls re-organised their belongings, before taking their turn in the hall, waiting for the boys to change.

Finally, the train started slowing. Lily looked out of the window and gasped – Hogwarts really was beautiful. The turrets and towers were silhouetted dramatically against a purple sky, which slowly graduated to orange as it got nearer to the point where the sun had set. The Head Girl returned on her rounds, and instructed the first years to leave their belongings in the compartment, as they would be collected and taken up to the castle before the train returned to London.

At that moment, the Hogwarts Express screeched to a halt, Jim was bundled back into his picnic basket, and the four children stepped off the train, their journey to the school almost complete.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry if there's any confusion about Jared being a Diggory - his father is Cedric Diggory's cousin. And this is my first story, so please review :)


	2. Snorkled Ridgefish

Lily gasped as she stepped off the train. She had not registered how cold it had gotten. She was immediately engulfed by hoards of other Hogwarts students, and had to grab Astra's arm to stop them getting separated.

"Firs' years, this way, over 'ere, firs' years!" Hagrid's familiar booming voice helped calm Lily's nerves, and she pushed her way through the older students towards the voice and bobbing lantern of Rubeus Hagrid, dragging Astra with her.

"Hagrid!" Lily called. Hagrid suddenly noticed Lily, and waved enthusiastically at her.

"All righ', Lily? Yer paren's doin' well? Bloody press, they ge' everywhere…" Hagrid grumbled.

"Hagrid, this is Astra Thomas," Lily said, now standing in front of Hagrid, still clutching Astra's elbow. She turned to realise that Astra had grabbed Cyrus and Jared as well, keeping them together. Astra quickly introduced her brother, and Jared shouted his name up at Hagrid as well. Hagrid looked a little confused at hearing the name 'Diggory'.

"Wait, are yer rela'ed ter Cedric? Cos I coulda sworn he didn' have siblin's," Hagrid called above the clamour.

"Yeah, my dad's his cousin. People always ask about Cedric. It's weird. It's like he's famous or something…"

Hagrid chuckled dryly. "Yeah… I guess ye' could say tha'."

As the rest of the tentative first years appeared, Hagrid continued to talk to Lily about her family and friends, making sure everyone was well, before turning to the assembled eleven-year-olds.

"Alrigh', everyone here? Good. OK, we're gonna take the boats up ter the castle. OK, follow me then…" Hagrid turned and led the first years away from the station, just as the last of the older students were running away towards the carriages, and the porter was walking along, slamming the train doors. "Righ', it's four to a boat, an' I don' want none of yer fallin' in! I had enough of tha' over the years…" Hagrid grumbled, as he came to a halt next to a small pier by the lake. Lily suddenly let out another involuntary breath as she gazed up at the castle. Until she was knocked to the ground, and all she could see was the grass in front of her nose.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Lily looked up to see a small girl with an honest, open face and long black hair gazing down at her with concern. "It's just- well, you stopped- I wasn't watching and-"

"You decided to stammer me to death?" Lily asked dryly. She suddenly burst out laughing as the girl's eyes widened fearfully at her reaction. "Don't worry, I'm fine. _Fine_," she added, as the girl remained seemingly unconvinced.

"OK… I'm Jasabella. Jasabella Fuji." The girl stuck out her hand, and Lily grabbed on to it, pulling herself up.

"Well, Jasabella Fuji, I'm Lily Potter, and I think we had better find a boat." Lily noticed as Jasabella's nose wrinkled slightly as Lily said her full name, until a quick expression of astonishment flashed across her face, before being immediately replaced by comprehension. "What?" Lily asked. "Don't you like your name?"

"I knew I'd seen you before!" Jasabella shouted, before immediately blushing furiously as other new students turned to watch her as they walked down to the boats. Lily looked at her questioningly, for once not trying to hide the fact that she was confused. "Well, um, I saw you at my parents wedding, about five years ago. You probably don't remember it though," Jasabella explained. "And I prefer Jazz, not stinking posh _Jasabella_," she added, an expression of incredible disgust on her small Asian face.

Lily gazed at her thoughtfully, as they caught up with Astra, Jared and Cyrus. Now that she thought about it, she remembered a party full of happy adults, though the memory was fading. She could remember flashes of watching a Japanese woman in a red kimono, being spun around by a man with a face she couldn't remember. She remembered thinking that the woman looked so happy, and beautiful in that moment of joy. She remembered dancing on her father's feet in the green dress she wore, having refused the pale purple. She remembered wanting to stick her fingers the big cake that looked so delicious. She remembered playing tag with her two older brothers and a small Japanese girl in a white dress, who had been so shocked to be tagged from behind by James that sparks flew from her hands, making her jerk her elbow into James' eye – the bruise had stayed for weeks…

"Of course!" Lily realised, mirth pulling up the corners of her mouth. "You gave my brother a black eye – how could I forget!" Laughter flew from her lips again, as she recalled the tearful nine-year-old James running to his mother.

Jazz's eyes glinted mischeiviously. "Well, I believe afterwards you made me feel better by telling me he deserved it," she grinned.

"Ah, the joys of beating up annoying prats three years older than you," Lily smiled fondly, wiping away a crocodile tear, whilst pretending to sob at the happy memories. Both girls disolved into giggles. _I think I see a friendship in the making_, Lily thought, surprising herself. Trust did not come as easily to her as it did to others.

Her giggles subsided at almost exactly the same time as Jazz's when they realised that everyone had already taken seats in the boats, and there was no room for two more girls in any of them.

"I guess this means we need to split up," Lily said.

"I guess it does," Jazz agreed, biting her lip uncertainly.

"You go with these guys," Lily said, gesturing at Astra, Cyrus and Jared, who had already seated themselves in a boat. "That way you will, at least, be stuck with decent people." Jazz attempted to protest, but Lily immediately stopped her. "No, _I'll_ go with these people," Lily said, turning to the boat next to it, which still only contained three people.

"Well… If you're sure," Jazz said.

"I'm sure."

Jazz sighed and made her way towards Lily's other friends as Lily turned to the other boat. _Friends_, she thought. _Huh. I never really had good friends before_.

Lily climbed into the boat, and sighed exasperatedly as two of the other three people glanced her with distainful looks and cocked eyebrows on their small faces, and the other did not even acknowledge her presence. _This is going to be fun_, she thought to herself.

"Righ't, everyone in? Good, good… forward!" Hagrid shouted from the front of the cluster of boats, his massive bulk taking up a whole one by itself. All at once, the little boats moved forwards across the lake, towards the huge castle ahead. Lily heard many sighs from the other boats as the view of the castle and it's prominence in their lives for the next seven years finally and truly affected them.

Lily turned towards the other three passengers in the boat. The one who had ignored her entirely was a girl with blonde hair and cold grey eyes. The way her smoothed down, bobbed hair flicked out at the ends in such a neat, precise way irritated Lily. This girl seemed like the type to avoid even the tiniest speck of mud like the black plague, and Lily hated people who never seemed to realise that the world wasn't perfectly clean, it never had been perfectly clean, and it was never going to be perfectly clean. She thought that it wasn't worth complaining over the world you had, and should live in it instead. Plus, mud washed off.

The other two people were boys, a brunette with watery blue eyes that looked small and beady in his face, and the last was a very short, fidgety boy who had black hair and a very pointed face, his deep-set eyes glaring out at the world from under a heavy brow.

Lily sighed, and said coldly, "Hi. I'm Lily Potter." The smaller boy flinched slightly, and the girl tensed, with her face pointing straight ahead. "Well, seeing as you don't want to talk, maybe I will," Lily continued, her voice icy. The girl snorted slightly, continuing to ignore her. "Quite frankly, if you are going to react like that just to my _name_, I don't think that you are worth the effort telling it to you, though to be completely honest, I don't think any of you look like you have enough brains to remember it, and I don't want to sit here and be treated like I am a dog that just pissed on your favourite pair of shoes, so I'm leaving."

The girl shot daggers at Lily through her eyes all the way through the little speech, having turned to face her as she said "name". When Lily claimed she was leaving, however, the girl finally spoke, an expression of superiority on her features.

"If you think you _can_ leave, you clearly fail to realise that we are on a boat, in the middle of a lake, and that gives you less brains than I supposedly have." The girl's voice was smooth, but the tone was distainful, and she sat a little straighter and whipped her head round to face forward again.

Lily sighed exasperatedly again, pulling off her precious yellow Converse. "Oi! Jazz!" she shouted across to the next boat. "These twits are bugging me, so I'm gonna leave. Catch!" Lily ignored Jazz's confused stutters, and threw her shoes across to the other boat. "Drop them and you die!" Lily shouted, then stood up, stretched her arms, then dived straight into the lake.

When Lily resurfaced seconds later, she was pleased to see the expression of shocked incredulity upon the blonde girl's face, as well as the stain of muddy water dripping down her hair and face. Lily grinned smugly. She had hoped the splash would catch that stupid little girl.

Lily turned and swam alongside the boat containing Astra, Jazz, Jared and Cyrus. The two boys and Jazz were staring at her, utterly shocked at the fact that there was a small redheaded girl swimming alongside their boat in a fast, strong breaststroke, while Jazz still clutched at the yellow shoes. Astra merely looked a little surprised for a second, before smiling vaguely and stating something about the snorkled-ridgefish, which was apparently up to six feet long and liked swimming next to humans in lakes, as they were very friendly, utterly harmless creatures. Lily started laughing at the expressions on her friends' faces.

_Even James didn't have the nerve to swim in the lake_, Lily thought happily. _He hates the water… I must remember to push him in next time I have a chance_.

Lily easily kept up with the boats as they glided towards the castle. When the boats finally docked, she was receiving some very odd stares from her fellow first years. "Why are they staring?" Lily asked Jazz, pulling her shoes out of the Japanese girl's grasp.

"Well, I think it might be something to do with the fact that there is quite a lot of seaweed in your hair," Jazz responded, fighting back giggles. "I doubt it has anything to do with the fact that you are eleven years old and you just swam almost the full width of the lake in full uniform – minus the shoes – and you aren't even out of breath."

"Oh. Well, I guess that's alright then," Lily said, grinning to herself. Even though she had only been a student for about… scratch that, she wasn't officially a student until she was sorted, it was a family opinion, she had already done something neither of her parents had done, and neither had her brothers. She was really quite proud of herself. Growing up thinking that you were never going to achieve as much as your parents and siblings was not easy – she wanted to prove to her family that she could do just as much. Uncle Ron sympathised immensely.

Lily turned, grinning, to see that Hagrid was standing, staring at her exasperatedly. "Yer shoulda stayed _in_ the boat, Lily – swimmin' in the lake isn't gonna do yer any good," he sighed. "You coulda waited 'til you were a' least _sorted_ before yer tried ter prove tha' you can do better than yer family…"

Lily put an innocent expression on her face, as if to tell Hagrid that he was getting exasperated with the wrong person. The image was laughable, as she was still soaked to the bone in her drenched Hogwarts robes, and seaweed tangled into her hair.

"Ahh, yer too much like yer granddad, Lily," Hagrid continued. "This year is gonna be interestin'," he muttered to himself as he returned his attention to the rest of the first years. "Righ', you lot – follow me!"

The group followed Hagrid quickly up a staircase, nervous expressions on their faces.

"They look so much like sheep, don't they?" Jazz whispered to Lily, who was still only carrying her shoes, not wanting to ruin them. Lily giggled, as they trailed behind the group, and laughed even harder as the blonde, neat girl shot her a very dirty glare.

"OK, I wan' yer all ter stay here, I gotta go tell Professor Lupin yer all here now," Hagrid called, as the cluster of eleven-year-olds came to a halt in a small chamber. Lily assumed that it was quite close to the Great Hall, and gazed around her with interest. Then she registered that Hagrid had said "Professor Lupin".

"Wait, _Teddy_ works here?" Lily shouted after Hagrid. "Since when?" But Hagrid had already gone.

"Who's Teddy?" asked Astra, watching Lily curiously.

"Dad's godson," Lily replied shortly. She was still bewildered about his unknown presence. _Why didn't Al or James tell me?_ she thought.

Lily's thoughts were interupted by the blonde girl, who was still covered in dirty water from the lake. She had marched straight up to Lily and practically screeched in her ear.

"POTTER!" The small face of the girl had screwed up, and had been tinted bright pink by her raging anger. "HOW BLOODY DARE YOU?"

Clearly she had been waiting for the teachers to leave, but as she ranted on, Lily realised who was standing behind the little blonde girl. She had to fight to stifle a laugh.

"And now you're _bloody_ laughing at me – you are the rudest, saddest, most pathetic _bloody-_"

"I apologise to interrupt you, person who I still don't know the name of," Lily commented, fighting back giggles. "But I think if you carry on swearing like that, Professor Lupin is going to have a heart attack." Lily gave up fighting the shout of mirth that subsequently escaped her throat explosively, as soon as she saw the expression of mingled terror, guilt and shock upon the blonde's face as she turned to face Teddy Lupin, who was towering over her, disgust and a little anger in his eyes, which was emphasised in every strand of deep red hair upon his head.

"Miss Carmichael! How dare you use such language!" said Teddy, narrowing his eyes. "Ten points from whichever house you are sorted into!"

The girl looked up at him, clearly scared out of her wits at the angry professor, but Lily merely smirked, and said, "I bet you're mouth isn't cleaner, Teddy."

Teddy raised his eyebrow at Lily, his hair changing to a bright turquoise colour. "You seem wet," he stated. Lily smiled sweetly. He rolled his eyes, exasperated, and turned back to the rest of the students.

_Why couldn't he charm me dry?_ Lily wondered. Her brow furrowed a little, and she glared at Professor Lupin as he spoke to the assembled first years.

"You will follow me now," he finished, and Lily realised she hadn't listened to anything about the sorting he had just said. _Oops_, she thought. Glancing around, she decided that she would just follow the others, and walked after them into the Great Hall, slipping slightly in her wet socks, still refusing to wear her favourite yellow sneakers.

The rest of the students turned to watch as the first years walked up the isle between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, the Gryffindor and Slytherin on the far sides. Lily looked around, fascinated. She knew about the school from her brothers and parents, but she hadn't imagined it so _large_. She noticed the floating candles, giving light to the whole room. She idly wondered what would happen if she could learn a spell to move all of the tiny flames into one massive ball of fire. _Huh_, she thought. _Pyromaniac much?_

Listening vaguely to Professor Lupin, who was explaining the sorting to the first years, her eyes flicking from one scared face to another. Jazz was gazing avidly at Teddy, drinking in his words; Astra and Cyrus were standing next to each other with exactly the same expression of understanding on their faces, and Jared was standing with another boy, towering over the other first years, and looking absolutely terrified.

She barely listened to the Sorting Hat as a rip near the brim opened and it began to sing. Her eyes, other than showing a little astonishment at the Hat's antics, were scouring the room, searching for her brothers. She looked carefully at the Gryffindor table, and finally saw James and Albus, sitting only a few seats apart. Albus was listening attentively to the Hat, gazing at it as it sang it's rhyme, and hadn't even noticed Lily. She smirked slightly as she noticed that there was a small cluster of third year girls staring just as attentively at him. She turned her attention to James, who was sitting with Fred Weasly, another cousin, who were both laughing hysterically at her. For a moment she wondered why, before she remembered that she was soaked through with seaweed in her hair, and was clutching a pair of yellow Converse. She raised her eyebrow at them, which only caused them to laugh even more.

Her eyes turned back to the front of the hall as it filled with loud applause – the hat had finished it's song. Teddy then walked forwards, and started reading out names from a roll of parchment.

"Adams, Jonathon," he read, and a small boy with very large glasses walked up to the Hat, visibly shaking in fear. He cautiously placed the Hat on his head, and it fell down on his head, and would have obscured his vision if it weren't for the glasses.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Sorting Hat suddenly shouted, and cheers erupted from the table next to the Gryffindor one.

Just as the boy sat down, another name was called. "Arindon, Jayne" became a Ravenclaw, and "Bortins, Barry" – the small, black-haired boy, became the first Slytherin. This did not surprise Lily. Even though her father was constantly ranting about equality, and fairness between pupils, there had always been a grudge between the Slytherins and Gryffindors. Where Lily would no doubt end up – she was a Weasley! Where else did they go?

"Carmichael, Jenna," was called up, and Lily stiffened uncomfortably as she watched the girl who was already her enemy be sorted into Ravenclaw. _That was unexpected_, Lily thought.

She zoned out for a while – the sorting was incredibly long. She only looked up when Jared was sorted into Hufflepuff along with the boy he had been standing with earlier, but she began to feel the butterflies as the list started reaching the "o"s.

"Patil, Phoebe," was sorted into Gryffindor, and she realised it was her turn soon.

"Potter, Lily." _OK, very soon_.

Lily walked quickly towards the stool, and felt like the Hat was watching her. She wanted to be sorted already. Her pace quickened slightly – and suddenly, she was skidding forwards, and toppled over backwards as her wet socks slipped on the floor. Most of the school erupted in laughter – she caught the eye of James as she stood up carefully, and he seemed to be quite smug that he hadn't made a fool of himself the first time he entered the Great Hall, unlike his little sister. Lily took this as a challenge, and quickly straightened up, before turning to the whole school, bowing deeply and yelling, "This is why you're gonna love me!"

She straightened again, and noticed that the school's laughter had doubled in strength at the little girl's boldness. Her eyes found James, who had frozen in shock, and Albus had also noticed, so was also laughing at his dumbstruck expression. She caught Jazz's eye, and winked at the laughing girl. Jazz saluted back, before doubling over with laughter. Even Professor Lupin appeared to be smiling at Lily's acts.

She turned back to the Hat, and heard a small voice chuckling slightly.

"Well," it muttered. "Another Potter, and one who just swam the lake and pulled off falling on her back in front of the whole school – you want to do well, a Slytherine tendancy-" Lily grimaced slightly at the thought. "-but also a great mind – Ravenclaw would work for you too…" Lily frowned a little – she had not realised that placing her would be this difficult. The Hat seemed to read her thoughts, and chuckled again. "Ah, but I cannot escape that which is obvious – you are truly a GRYFFINDOR!" The last word was shouted loud enough for the whole hall to hear. The Gryffindor table cheered loudly, but before Lily could remove the Hat, she heard a little mutter of "maybe it would be wise to not fall over this time – the second fall is harder to pick yourself up from." Lily rolled her eyes and grinned, rushing over to the Gryffindor table, and sat down on the bench between Finn Lancaster, another Gryffindor first year, and a still shocked James.

"Oi, Earth to James," she whispered, as the sorting continued. "Close your mouth – not attractive, and the girls over there-" she gestured to the Hufflepuff table, where the girls had switched their attention, "-won't be interested anymore if the wind changes and you're stuck like that."

James' mouth snapped shut and his hand jumped to his hair, completely distracted from Lily, leaving her free to cheer as both Cyrus and Astra became Ravenclaws, the other boy from the boat became Slytherin, and Jazz also became Gryffindor, as well as another three boys who joined Finn called Leo, Henry, and… _Ivan? Igor? Well, it was Russian. I think_, Lily thought.

Finally, the last person – Zara Western – was also sorted into Gryffindor, the Hat was taken away by Teddy Lupin and Professor McGonagall stood up to make a short speech. The hall fell silent, waiting for her to speak in anticipation – the food would not arrive until she was finished.

"Welcome to all of our new students, and welcome back everyone else," she called across the Hall. Her grey hair was tied in a severe bun at the back of her head, but her eyes showed a sort of strict kindness. "I would like to remind all students that the Forbidden Forest is, as always, out of bounds, and Mr Dorkins, our caretaker would like to remind everyone that there are, I believe, 215 items not permitted in the school, as well as no magic between classes allowed. But, as I can see, very few of you listened, deafened by your hunger, so I have no problem in saying: let the feast begin!"

Lily chortled slightly as a ripple of laughter passed across the Hall, and squeals of excitement were heard as the food magically appeared on platters in front of the students. Lily found herself a little surprised that the table didn't break under the weight of all the food.

"Hey, Lils!" Lily heard Fred call her name, and she turned to look at him. "Fall in, did ya?" he asked, laughing as she smiled sweetly at him.

"No."

"Huh?" It was Lily's turn to laugh as she saw his expression change completely from amused to bewildered.

"She swam," Jazz cut in, joining Lily's laughter at Fred's expression. He was sitting with his mouth hanging open, staring at the two laughing girls. James turned as he heard the two words, and incredulous expression on his face.

"No way," said James, not willing to believe Lily had made a much better entrance to the school than he had. "You did not swim across that whole lake."

"Use your _eyes_, Jamsie dear – why else would I be so wet? You know perfectly well I did not fall in. I believe that was you," Lily replied, directing the last comment at Fred.

Both boys were sitting, slack-jawed, as they stared at her in surprise and – were her eyes decieving her? _Awe_? Lily laughed, and, pulling the seaweed out of her hair, threw it in James' face.

"What did I say about the wind changing, Jamsie?" she asked, giggling as he uttered no response and continued to stare. Instead she turned to Jazz. "Why does he always forget how stupid he looks? Well, at least I don't have to look in the mirror every morning looking so stupid!"

The two girls laughed as they loaded their plates, and James grudgingly turned back to Fred.

"We're gonna get them later," he said darkly.

The shocked expression on Fred's face said it all.

"Don't be stupid, Fred, I don't want to _kill_ them… Lily just needs a little shock to the system, and, if I am not mistaken, has stolen both the Marauders Map and the Cloak. Which I need back."

"Um… yeah, I knew why you'd want to prank _Lily_, I just don't get the reason for pranking the other girl," Fred replied.

"Well, she's friends with Lily, but also…" James lowered his voice, and leaned towards Fred. "Tell no-one, but I'm pretty sure that girl gave me a black eye at a wedding once…" Fred burst out laughing, before trying to straighten his face at James' mortification.

"Deal," he said. "But first, I'm eating. I'm bloody _starving_!"

Little did they know, but Lily was already one step ahead.


	3. Weasley gets Crushed

**A/N:** I hope you like the story so far! I just want to say thanks to Vampire8 and Squidcats for adding this story to your alerts - it makes me very, very happy :)

**Disclaimer:** As much as I would love to say this isn't true, I do not own the awesomeness that is Harry Potter - only my OCs are mine.

* * *

"Oi! Small people!" Lily raised an eyebrow as she turned away from the slice of chocolate gateau in front of her to meet the gaze of another cousin of hers, Jasper Weasley. He was much the same build as his father, Bill, and was very good looking – a trait most likely received from his part Veela mother,

Fleur. Or 'Phlegm', as Ginny called her, out of earshot. Despite being a huge fifth year Beater, he cowered under the look she gave him, before she began smiling at his expression. Jasper grinned back at her, realising she wasn't angry. He was the cousin she got on best with – he was the only one that actually empathised.

"Anywho," he continued, grinning. "For some reason I'm a prefect this year. So after the feast, you know who to come to. Ignore Prissy over there," Finn said, gesturing to the other fifth year prefect, Pricilla Wold. "She's gonna bite your head off if you go near her."

"Jasper. You do remember me telling you to stop pissing her off, don't you?" asked Albus, who had heard the whole conversation from his seat.

"Eavesdropping, Al?" asked Jasper, smirking.

"Naturally. I'm a Potter."

Jasper grinned again at Albus' deadly serious face. Lily looked across the table to Jazz, and said, "favourite cousin," to her questioning look.

"Lily!" came a shocked gasp from further up the table. Julie, Jasper's older sister, was staring at her, clearly affronted. "How come my little pest of a brother is your _favourite_? Not me?"

"Well, stabbing me in the eye last month with your wand didn't really help," Lily countered.

"Wait, what?" That was Fred. "_Jasper_ is your favourite? Not me with my charming wit and devilish good looks?"

Suddenly Lily found herself mobbed by all sixteen Weasley cousins, all wanting to know why they were not favoured, all except Jasper, who was merely watching the interrogations. Lily shot a pleading look at him, but immediately regretted it, as all he did was stand up, and say, "why can't you just accept that I am clearly the best of you all?"

Ten minutes later, Professor McGonagall was standing up, having laughed her fill at the mashed-potato-covered Jasper, all of which had been thrown by Julie, before he had been knocked over, and Fred had shouted "BUNDLE!" at the top of his voice, before jumping over the table on to Jasper, and the rest of the Weasleys had followed. They were all still lying on the floor in the gap between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, the latter being considerably emptier. Lily was beside herself laughing, and Leo had fallen off his seat out of mirth, straight on to the mountain of redheaded teenagers on the floor, most of whom were now covered in mashed potato.

"WEASLEY!" McGonagall shouted, and every single one of the floored Weasleys turned their heads towards her, each with exactly the same expression upon their face – it seemed to be saying, "what did I do?"

The Headmistress had to try very hard to restrain herself from laughing again, but succeeded in maintaining her composure, despite a slight smile. This differed dramatically from the rest of the student body – all of whom had given up trying to shovel puddings into their mouths, as the laughter was causing many to gag if they did.

"All of you – yes, _all_ of you – I want to see you in my office tomorrow at 7pm sharp!" cried McGonagall. "Now go sit back down!"

All of the Weasleys trudged back to their seats, with many grumbles of "Sadie, you have such pointy elbows", "you _idiot_, Karl, you gave me a dead leg!" and "_fuck_, Julie, it's gonna take me absolutely _ages_ to get all this bloody potato out of my hair!"

"Lily, why couldn't you have just kept your mouth shut?" groaned Jasper, massaging his stomach where Fred had landed, and sat heavily back down in his seat. Lily completely failed to respond, as she was laughing so much it was silent, and tears were streaming down her face as she sucked air into her lungs. Jazz, Leo, Finn and, well, the rest of the school, were in similar positions.

It wasn't until half an hour later that everyone had finally calmed down, and pulled seconds from the cakes, ice creams, tarts, and jellies that covered the tables in front of them. Finally, after another half hour, the plates were scraped clean, and Professor McGonagall demanded that all the students headed to bed, and issued the traditional order of "first years, follow the prefects to your dormitories," as well as saying that as it was a Saturday, lessons would not start until Monday. As per previous instruction, the Gryffindor first years walked towards Jasper, Lily grabbing her shoes off the floor along the way, and he led them up seven flights of occasionally moving staircases, before they reached a portrait of a fat woman in a pink dress. He said the password, and the portrait swung open to reveal a large, cosy common room covered in red squashy armchairs, small circular tables, and a large, crackling fire. Many Gryffindor banners decked the walls.

"Welcome to Gryffindor Tower, this is our common room, and the dormitories are through those two doors. Girls are over there, and boys over there," said Jasper, pleased that he hadn't screwed up. Much. But, claiming that they were his minions (jokingly, of course) didn't really count. Probably. "Now, everyone go to bed, and you'll find your shit-" this earned him a sharp jab in the side from Pricilla "-right, sorry, _not_ your shit, your _stuff_, in your rooms already." _And swearing at the first years is probably not the best idea either_, he reasoned.

The first years dispersed to their respective dorms, but Lily had already sped off as soon as Jasper told her which dorms were which. Dragging her pyjamas out of her trunk and claiming the bed next to the window, dumping her shoes on it, she rushed into the adjoining bathroom with a towel, showered the muddy water off herself and out of her robes, before drying and switching into her pyjamas. The trousers featured sheep jumping over fences. It made many people drowsy to look at them.

When she returned to the dorm room, the other three girls had arrived and chosen their beds. Jazz had claimed the one on the other side of the window, while the other two girls – Phoebe Patil and Zara Western – had taken the remaining two beds. Suddenly, she remembered something, and ran out of her dormitories to the common room. Noticing James was still in the common room, she sprinted up the stairs to the boy's dormitories, clutching a tin of a suspicious-looking blue liquid from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Reaching the fourth-year's dormitories, she quickly glanced around, and found her brother's bed. Tipping the whole can carefully over it, she hid the empty tin under the bed, and ran back to her dormitory.

All of the girls were also in their pyjamas. She jumped on to her bed, and flopped backwards. She sighed contentedly, and thought about her first day. Her imagination extended the thoughts to her father's first year, and how he became a hero so soon.

_It's not fair. I don't get what James and Al did. How did they live up to all this flipping expectation?_ Lily scowled at the hangings above her, and sat up to draw the curtains. But before she did, she grinned as she heard a yell from the boys' dormitories. Still smiling, she reached up and tugged on the curtains. The other girls had jumped at the shout, but Jazz had seen Lily's face and was looking at her suspiciously. As the girl opened her mouth to say something, they suddenly heard the pounding of feet from at the bottom of the stairs, before another yell of surprise, and the sound of a heavy body tumbling downwards. At this, Lily jumped up and looked out of the door to see James lying at the bottom of the stairs in a heap, as they had turned into a giant slide, his robes tangled around him. Lily burst out laughing at the sight.

James rapidly disentangled himself, and stood up, but stood on the hem of his robes, and fell backwards on to Jasper, who had appeared behind him to see what was going on. Lily laughed even harder as Jasper was crushed for the second time that day.

"LILY! WHAT DID YOU DO?" shouted Jasper, from underneath James, who was pulling himself up to save himself from further embarrassment. At almost exactly the same time, James shouted as well.

"LILY! YOU ARE DEAD WHEN YOU GET DOWN HERE!"

Lily just stood, laughing at the two boys at the foot of the slide, and yelled, "You can't catch me from here, Jamesie boy!"

Lily wobbled slightly as another wave of laughter overcame her, and the other girls appeared behind her. Phoebe, being by far the shortest, and at the back, pushed her way forwards, but not realising that she had made Lily step forwards on to the slide. Immediately she slipped straight down, and as she neared the bottom, noticed the expression of glee upon her brother's face.

_Oh crap_, she thought.

Landing a lot more gracefully than her brother had done, Lily ducked under his outstretched arms, and ran into the common room. James chased her all over the common room, and she had to climb over people and sofas to get away. It didn't help that Fred had turned up and started singing "RUN RABBIT, RUN RABBIT, RUN, RUN, RUN!" at the top of his voice.

Lily was laughing as James eventually caught up with her, picked her up, and tossed her over his shoulder. She immediately started kicking and screeching in his ear; she didn't like being trapped. She had almost forgotten there were still other people from the dormitories descending the stairs (the girl's slide had changed back to stairs) to see what the commotion was about. Being a girl with surprisingly good aim – her beater skills coming into play; James was often suspicious of how good at being a beater she was, as she was so much better than him, and such a small person – she very quickly hit her target. James let out a cry of pain and dropped his sister as her foot hit him in the groin. She grinned in triumph over her older brother, as he was writhing in pain on the floor of the common room, before turning and running to the girl's staircase in a yellow-sheep-covered and red-haired blur before Fred could catch up. She needn't have worried; Fred was standing in shock, along with the rest of the Gryffindor house – it didn't seem possible that a tiny first year girl could reduce a fourteen-year-old boy, generally viewed as practically invincible, to a crying heap on the floor.

"Well, James. I guess you shouldn't try to kill your little sister any more," said Fred. James just moaned in response.

Gradually, over the next half hour, people trickled out of the common room, eventually leaving just James, who was still on the floor, and Albus, who had been sat on the sofa, reading a book and completely ignoring the proceedings. He was used to similar events. They happened almost daily at home. Which is why Albus couldn't grasp why he and James were expected to "burn the house down", as Harry put it, if they shared a room. Wait, it was because James and Lily would not only burn the house down, they would make the whole of Dover go up in flames.

Safely back in her dormitory, Lily sat on her bed and read until everyone else had returned.

"Um… Lily…" It was Jazz who broke the silence first. Lily looked up from _Hogwarts: A History_ to find all three girls she shared a dorm with staring at her; Jazz curiously, Phoebe fearfully, and Zara warily.

"Yes…" Lily drew out the syllable, taking her time speaking.

"What did you do?" asked Zara, getting straight to the point.

Lily laughed softly. "Well, you know Weasley Wizard Wheezes? The one George Weasley owns?" Murmurs of agreement came from the three Gryffindors. Well, he's just created this vanishing liquid stuff, and I sort of tested it. On James' bed."

"Seriously?" cried Phoebe, her long blonde ponytail swinging slightly as she responded with vigour.

"Yes, seriously," Lily replied, a mischievous grin on her face.

"What did it do?" asked Jazz curiously.

"Well, what it was supposed to do was make James' bed vanish when he went to sit on it, but then reappear above him when he wanted to sit up again. And I'm assuming, by him being so pissed off with me, that it did exactly what it said on the tin."

Hoots of laughter escaped the girls' mouths, as they all remembered James running like an idiot to catch up with Lily. Eventually, they all realised how late it actually was, and lay down to sleep. Lily had let Jim out of his picnic basket, and he had curled up by her side, his belly and paws the deep purple they always turned when he was asleep.

Lily, however, could not switch her head off. She tossed and turned, disturbing Jim regularly. Finally deciding enough was enough, she sat up in her bed, and pulled some parchment and a quill out of her trunk. Because it was so dark, everything appeared in monochrome, so she could not see what colour ink she was using. It didn't matter, though, and after a moment's thought, decided to write to her Uncle George, Fred's dad.

_George_

_It's been less than a day here, and loads has happened already. Fred and Jasper have already got all of the Weasleys in what looks like a detention, by, ahem, Fred getting offended that he's not my favourite cousin. And then bundling Jasper. In the middle of the Great Hall. During the feast. And everyone else joined in._

_It was really funny! You should've been here – I bet you miss Hogwarts loads._

_In other news, I just got chased around the common room by Jamsie Poo, because I may have tested out that vanishing liquid stuff on his bed. So now he's pissed off. There's no lessons tomorrow, so he's going to have loads of time to try and get me back. Note the "try"._

_He's going to fail._

_Love,_

_Lily_

Satisfied with her letter, and finally feeling drowsy enough to sleep, Lily folded the letter up and put it under her bed, along with the ink and quill. She turned in her bed, to face out of the window, and gazed at the full moon as she slowly fell into the deep subconscious layers of peaceful rest.


	4. I Don't Bluff

**A/N:** Hey... please don't kill me... I know it took me forever and a day to update, but I had really bad writer's block for the next chapter, and completely forgot I hadn't put chapter 4 up at all - and then fanfiction decided it hated me. It wouldn't let me upload the chapter :s

But it's better now :D So read and please please please review... oh, and thanks to for doing so :)

* * *

When Lily awoke the next morning, it took her a moment to work out where she was. _Red hangings? Uhh… My room's got a blue ceiling…_ She lay in utter bewilderment for a moment, before finally working it out.

"I'M AT HOGWARTS!" Lily screamed, sitting up with her fists in the air, as if in triumph.

"WAAAAH!"

"WASSAMATTER!"

"BUGGER OFF!"

Three shouts came back to Lily from across the dormitory. Phoebe had screamed and fallen out of bed, her long blonde hair all over her round face as she lay on the floor in her lilac pyjamas, tangled in the covers of her bed. She was gazing at the hangings curiously, as Lily had done, also not quite sure where she was. Zara had sat up just as quickly as Lily had, and her chocolate brown bob was very messy, as she had moved around a lot in her sleep. She, having realised nothing was the matter, was glaring at Lily darkly, clearly angry at having been woken up, before she lay back down on her bed. Jazz, on the other hand, had yelled at Lily, then shoved her head under her pillows, trying to return to sleep.

"Uhh," was Lily's witty and intelligent reply. She looked at the clock on her bedside table, which showed… _4:50am? WHAT?_ Lily thought to herself angrily, yelling "DAMMIT!"

Jazz pulled her head out from under her pillows, and gave Lily the nastiest look possible.

_Woah_, thought Lily. _If looks could kill_…

"Will you stop SCREAMING!" Jazz screamed, before shoving her head back under the pillow, her black hair in disarray.

"Someone's not a morning person…" groaned Lily. She had not wanted to wake so early, but had decided that it was not early enough for her to return to sleep. She slowly stood up on her bed, and laughed at the comprehension slowly appearing on Phoebe's face. She walked into the adjoining bathroom with her toothbrush and facecloth, and brushed her teeth before placing both items in the cupboard under the sink. She felt incredibly awake – on any other school-less day, Lily would not have woken until at least 9:30. She was not a morning person either.

Quickly changing into a pair of black jeans and a t-shirt bearing the statement 'CONFORMITY – the slowest form of suicide', Lily flopped back down on her bed, noticing as she did so that all of the others were back in their beds.

After five minutes of just lying there, Lily had already grown bored of watching the clouds. It was no _fun_ from inside.

"Curse you Lily Potter." A black-haired lump grumbled from the bed to Lily's left. "Curse you into oblivion."

"Gah-di-wah?" Lily mumbled, distracted as she tried to think of something to do.

"You woke me up. Now I'm stuck awake," Jazz grumbled as she dragged herself out of bed. Phoebe and Zara had, however, already retuned to sleep. Jazz pulled on a grey skirt and white t-shirt – it was a quite warm day, even though it was only 5:00am.

Half an hour passed, with Jazz reading on her bed, and Lily staring at the sky outside her window, the state of boredom she was in slowly deepening.

"Oh my God. Mornings are dull," Lily moaned. Suddenly struck by inspiration, Lily shot off to her trunk, and pulled out her Firebolt, shoving a pair of electric blue converse as she went. She opened the window as far as it would go, and before Jazz had quite worked out what was happening, Lily had jumped straight out of the window. From seven floors up.

"OH MY GOD, LILY!" Jazz yelled out of the window, as she looked out to see Lily hovering a few metres below it on her broomstick.

"What?" Lily asked, a cheeky smile plastered across her face. "I'm just flying for a bit…" With that, she turned her broom away from Gryffindor Tower, and flew off across the lake, almost faster than Jazz could see.

Lily relished flying. As she soared through the crisp morning air over Hogwarts, she felt so utterly free, so sublimely happy with the world. It was as if nothing could possibly spoil the feeling of joy that rose up inside her. She loved the feeling of soaring through the air, rising above the ground and the weight of responsibility and pain, above the sorry feeling of opression that crushed bodies underneath it. Though she was too young to fully understand the meaning of pain and sorrow, regret and anguish, she felt as if flying freed her from it's grip. Flying was what she lived for.

She spent hours in the sky. It was at least half past eight when she finally felt the need to return to solid ground. She landed outside the main doors that led into the entrance hall. Hearing animated chatter coming from an open doorway a short way ahead of her, she entered through it with her Firebolt over her shoulder. Recognising it as the Great Hall, she made her way down to the Gryffindor table, where she saw that everyone else was wearing their own clothes as well. Lily noticed James sitting on the side of the table facing away from the door, but none of the other girls from her dorm were there yet. Instead, Lily walked round the table to the far side, still carrying her broom. James gave her a dark look as she passed him. She carried on walking, and sat down next to Leo Qualls and opposite Finn Lancaster, the only other first years at the table.

"Oh my God, Leo, Puddlemere United are _not_ the best team!" Finn was saying as Lily sat down.

"Yes they _are_, there's no possible proof they're not!" Leo countered, his dark blonde fringe flopping into his grey eyes, which were bright and animated.

"Yes there is," Lily interrupted. "James over there supports them. So clearly, that makes them bad," she continued, earning an irritated look from Leo at the degradation she applied to his favourite Quidditch team.

"Hey, you're Lily Potter, aren't you?" asked Leo. "You swam the lake."

Lily shifted uncomfortably. "Yes… But I don't want to become known for that. I want to be known for who I am, not 'that famous guy's kid who did something that I didn't'," she said.

"Aww, little Lilyflower is being all sentimental," cooed Finn jokingly. Lily's expression became stony and she froze in the process of piling scrambled eggs on to her plate.

"Call me that again and I will punch you so hard your face will break," she said shortly. Finn raised his eyebrow disbelievingly at Lily, but didn't press the matter.

"Hey, I thought first years weren't allowed brooms," said Leo, suddenly noticing the Firebolt Lily had placed under the bench when he accidentally touched it with his feet.

"Read the shirt."

"'Conformity – the slowest form-' oh."

"Wait, you have a Firebolt?" asked Finn, his dark brown eyes wide. "They still haven't made a faster broom yet, have they?"

"Um, no, they haven't made a faster broom, and no, I don't own a Firebolt, this one just belongs to my cat, who has somehow gained the ability to fly one with premiership ability and skill," Lily said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, I was just asking," said Finn, holding his hands up in defense, before turning back to the mountain of bacon and sausage on his plate.

"OK, I've only just met you guys and I'm probably going to have to spend the next seven years of my life with you as either people I hate to the ends of the Earth or people I get on with," Lily said, after gradually working her way halfway through her food, before she had placed down her knife and fork and started watching the two boys intently. "Seeing as there are already, um, four people here I hate to the ends of the Earth, I'm going to say that you two do not want to be added to that category, because I beat up enemies. More than I beat up friends. So start making your way up the friend-o-meter."

Finn and Leo just sat staring at her in mild confusion, before both of them said, at exactly the same time, "do you like Quidditch?"

Lily laughed out loud at the two boys' sincerity, and nodded her head.

"Do you play Quidditch?" Again another simultaneously spoken sentence.

"Of course I play Quidditch! I'm not made of rock." Unfortunately for Lily, Rose, the only Weasley cousin who did not play Quidditch, was passing by at that moment, so Lily gained a sharp cuff around the ear.

"Lily! I am _not_ made of rock because I don't play Quidditch!" said Rose.

"I never said you were!"

"It was implied."

"Fine. The rest of our family needs the Quidditch skills because you got more brains than every other Weasley combined. Ergo, you do not have the Quidditch skills because your head is too full up with everything else to have enough room for Quidditch skills." Rose seemed happy with this conclusion, and started walking off. "But before you go-" Lily shouted, and Rose turned, pushing a strand of her slightly bushy red hair out of her face. "-you had better stop hitting me. I'm in a good mood, so I'll let that one slide, but you only have one chance!" Rose just rolled her eyes and sat down with Aimee and Sadie, twins, who were Fred's two younger sisters, and also in third year.

Lily turned back to see that Henry Strint and Ivan Rosiov had joined the other two boys. Leo had started up a conversation with them concerning the importance of Puddlemere United, and Finn had returned to his food.

"Hey, Finn, do you play Quidditch?" aked Lily. He stared at her incredulously.

"Of _course_ I play Quidditch! Like you said, I'm not made of rock!" Lily smiled at his use of her words.

"What position?"

"Well, I'm really not that good at beating, my aim just falls apart. But I think keeper, because I prefer defense," Finn said. "What about you?"

"Beater, definitely. If not though, I would probably choose chaser," Lily replied quickly. "Hang on a second – your last name is Lancaster, isn't it?" Finn nodded. "Is your mum Janet Lancaster?" Again he nodded. "Aha!"

"What?"

"She plays for the Harpies with my mum! Keeper, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Finn said.

"I think I met her once… Must've been when Dad took us to one of her games. What was I, nine? Something like that. We were by the changing rooms, and I was so mad that they'd lost that I think I accidentally set something on fire…"

Finn laughed loudly at that. "Yeah, I remember Mum saying that there was this little girl who burnt up part of the locker rooms," he said.

"Yeah, Mum was mad at me. She's not very nice when she's mad," said Lily thoughtfully. "She got really mad when I knocked James out by accident," Lily said, and heard chuckling from next to her. Lily looked up to see Albus taking a seat beside her.

"That she did," he said. "Didn't she yell for a bit before deciding that you were way too angry for a seven-year-old, and send you to a boxing class to, what was it, 'channel the excess hate into a punchbag instead of your brother'. I think she didn't realise that all she did was give you an extra weapon of terror to hang over James' head. The same happened with the archery, didn't it?"

Lily laughed at the memory. "Oh yeah, that was because I knocked Scorp out, wasn't it?" she asked.

"Yes," Albus said. "I did warn him to stay away from you with that pie… Ah, speak of the devil," he said, as a third year Slytherin with white-blonde hair and grey eyes in his pointed face walked through the door. Albus stood to go and talk to his best friend. "Have a nice pre-class day, Lily," he said, and walked over to Scorpius, who had seated himself on the Slytherin table.

"Drop a pie on his head for me, will you!" Lily shouted after her brother. He just smiled and waved.

"Uhh… Lily…" said Finn, watching her suspiciously. "What did who do with a pie?"

Lily laughed again as Jazz walked through the door.

"Hey Lily!" the Japanese girl called, making her way over to the red-headed girl. She looked at the brunette boy to whom Lily was speaking. "Hi person I don't know."

"The same to you," said Finn. "What happened with the pie?" he asked Lily again.

"Finn, Jazz; Jazz, Finn," Lily said quickly, as Jazz sat beside her.

"What is this pie incident of which you speak?" asked Jazz.

"Ah, the infamous pie incident!" said Jasper, who had been walking past the first years. "Boy, did that make my Christmas…"

"_What happened_?" asked Finn impatiently.

"Well, Scorpius Malfoy is basically Al's best friend, and has been ever since the first train ride to school," Lily started to say.

"Yeah, I never got why that kid wasn't as bad as his Dad- sorry, carry on," said Jasper, receiving a sharp glare from Lily.

"_As I was saying_, in Al's first year, Scorp was invited over for part of the Christmas holidays," Lily continued. "Basically, he was there for just a couple of days before Christmas Day, and Bill and Fleur, _his_ parents-" Lily pointed at Jasper "-were coming over the day before Scorp left. Mum went a bit crazy, and for some reason, started baking masses of apple pies for us all. She was asking James, Scorp and Al to carry them all through from the kitchen to the dining room, and I, being me, smelt food, and ran straight down the stairs and into Scorp, who was knocked over, and dropped the pie all over my head."

"Ahh, it was so funny, you smelt of apples all day," said Jasper, a look of happy reminiscence on his face. "Sorry, sorry!"

"Anyway, I was really peeved about the fact that I was suddenly covered in apple pie, so I basically beat up Scorp. I don't think his parents were happy when he was sent home the next day, with a fascinating tale of how he was knocked out by a nine-year-old girl after dropping a pie on his head. Mum and Dad weren't on the best of terms with the Malfoys anyway, and because of the 'pie incident', they really don't like each other. I think Scorp is a bit scared of me now," concluded Lily thoughtfully.

Finn and Jazz were both heartily laughing at Lily's story, and as Lily looked over to the Slytherin table and caught Scorpius' eye, she could've sworn she saw him blanch slightly.

"Alright guys, I just came over here to tell you that us Weasleys are having a mini Quidditch tournament in about half an hour, and you, James and Al are gonna join us, seeing as you're technically Weasleys as well," said Jasper, and Lily noticed that most of the other Weasleys had broomsticks under the benches. "Because there's eighteen of us, not including Rose, 'cos everyone knows she can't play for shit, we're gonna have three teams, each with one beater instead of two. We haven't sorted out teams yet, but we're probably going to have you, Al and James on the same team, 'cos you and James need to learn to work together in at least one thing in your life."

Lily sighed heavily. "I guess."

Jasper blinked in surprise. "What? No resistance? No tantrum? Not even the tiniest complaint? You've turned over a new leaf, Lily, and it's scaring me."

Lily grinned at him. "Nope, no new leaf. It's just, I'm saving all my screaming and yelling for the game," she reasoned.

"And that's the Lily we know and love! I'll drag you there in about a half hour."

"POTTER! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HIT BLUDGERS AT YOUR OWN TEAM!"

Lily laughed lightly at Madam Disper's criticisms flew across the pitch. She was there to supervise the game while the Weasleys played. She was finding it rather funny watching James having to dodge well-aimed bludgers at the last minute, which Lily fired at him every time he let the Quaffle past.

"But Miss!" Lily shouted back. "I was just making sure his reflexes were up to scratch. I didn't mean to hit him, honest!" Her voice was filled with such sincerity that Madam Disper believed her, even though it was clear to everyone else that she was lying. Unfortunately for him, James was in no position to protest, having been knocked out by a bludger to the head from Lily, resulting in a time-out being called. She had sent a particularly fierce blow in his direction after he had missed three goals in quick succession.

Lily chose to ignore the fact that it was partly because he was too busy looking out for her bludgers.

However, the team Lily was playing on, which consisted of James as Keeper, Sadie, Aimee and Fred as Chasers, Al as Seeker, and Lily herself as Beater, was still winning overall, with two games won out of three, but Lily was determined to win this one as it would put them first overall in the Weasley Quidditch Tournament.

James had been revived, but was still a little off while playing, so as the game ensued for another 45 minutes, he let in goal after goal, and Lily had to restrain herself from sending more bludgers towards him, instead shooting them at astounding speeds towards the opposing chasers. Finally, Al clinched a win for the Potters' team, ending the game with a score of 230-210. Lily cheered loudly with the rest of her team, and celebrated by flying as fast as she could up to Jasper, before jumping off her broom straight into him, knocking him off his own. Luckily, they were only a few feet above the ground at the time, and Lily quickly stood up, and tapped Jasper gently on the forehead with her beater's bat whilst uttering a smug "ha!" of triumph.

"Ugh," Jasper groaned. "What is it this year about family crushing me?"

"Oi oi! Lilyflower isn't so bad!" Lily could hear Finn shouting as he ran with Jazz and Leo from the stands where they had been watching the Tournament. Lily rapidly turned, and thrust her fist forwards as hard as possible into Finn's nose. A satisfying crunch followed quickly by a cry of pain and a lot of blood came from the boy's face, which was now contorted in pain.

"What was that for?" he bellowed, bent double and clutching his face in his hands.

"I did warn you about calling me Lilyflower." Finn looked incredulous as he looked up at Lily, her fist smeared with red.

"I thought you were bluffing!" he cried.

"I don't bluff," Lily said shortly, before turning to retrieve her broom. She walked with the rest of her team into the castle, who were carrying James on their shoulders, cheering as they went; they would've carried Albus, but he had refused on the grounds that he would've been embarrassed, and James was barely standing as it was.

Jasper got up slowly, and walked over to Finn, who still had blood streaming down his face.

"_Episkey_," he muttered, pointing his wand at Finn's nose, which returned to it's normal size and shape immediately. Noticing the three first years still looking shocked at Lily's sudden aggression, he decided to explain. "Seriously, she doesn't bluff. And I believe she said that you're face would break? That's one promise kept. She's got me with the same trick dozens of times," he said. "Well, at least you aren't infertile. I don't know whether she's succeeded yet, but she's definitely got James bloody close."


	5. Voldypants and Wands

**A/N: **It's finally here! *Happy dance* I know, I know, I'm really bad at updating - I don't have a clue how long it's been since the last chapter... I have excuses, but right now I'd rather you read the story... All three of you who have it on alert. Please, please, pleeeease can I get a review? Even one would be nice...

I digress; read chapter please :)

* * *

Having watched the Weasleys carry the unconscious James into the Hospital Wing (he had passed out along the way), where he was pounced upon immediately by Madame Lark, the resident nurse, Lily followed the other redheads back towards the common room. They all planned to dump their stuff in the dormitories before returning to find out whether or not James had woken. Lily continued after them idly, just going along so she could apologise fleetingly to James before she wandered off again. Whilst in her dormitory, she had picked up her letter to her uncle George, in case she happened across the Owlery when wondering around the massive castle. Even though she doubted it was likely. She rolled the letter up in her hands, noticing as she did that she had accidentally written it in bright purple ink.

_This castle is so confusing_, Lily thought to herself. It was probably around five in the afternoon, though Lily hadn't seen a clock for hours. She was absolutely famished, having skipped lunch along with the rest of the Weasleys, as they were far too engrossed in their tournament to stop for something as insignificant as _food_. Lily only realised at that point that food should never be deemed insignificant, ever. _Aw, dammit_! Lily cursed to herself, as she realised that she had no idea where she was, or where anyone else was, and that was problematic because she knew for a fact that every Weasley cousin, along with her two brothers, knew exactly where the kitchens were. _They're all probably scoffing their faces full of roast beef, yorkshire puddings, pasta, everything! Oh my God, I'm starving…_

She wasn't paying a lot of attention to where she was going as she meandered slowly along the corridors. There weren't many people around, probably all being in their respective common rooms. Though she wasn't particularly concentrating on direction, Lily was always looking around her, drinking in the place she was in. The portraits, she noticed, were watching her curiously.

"That must be the little sister," a rotund, jovial man with a silver beard and entirely bald head was saying. "I say, she looks so much like her grandmother…"

"Which grandmother?" asked the witch in the portrait beside his. She was a relatively young woman with deep blue robes and elaborately curled brown hair. Lily thought she looked rather like Zara, in a very odd way. "The girl does have two, after all."

"Lily Evans, definitely…" The voices trailed away as Lily rounded the corner at the end of the corridor, leaving the two portraits behind her. Lily felt faintly bewildered; people always told her she was like her mother, not like her grandmother. Especially not a grandmother she had never met.

Her pondering was interrupted as she walked onwards, with her hands in her pockets, not really looking where her converse-clad feet were taking her, when she banged straight into a person standing in the path her feet were walking in. Lily bounced off the person, and tripped over her own feet trying to stay upright. Needless to say, she failed miserably, landing on the stone floor with a loud thump. Focusing on the concerned face in front of her, she realised it was a very tall boy, with bright red hair and – Lily had to fight back laughter when she noticed – lipstick marks all over his face.

"Uh, Lily? Are you OK?" asked Karl Weasley, turning away from Georgina Jordan, his long-term girlfriend. Lily smiled evilly at her cousin.

"Yes Karl, I'm fine," Lily said, still grinning. Karl was beginning to find it a little disconcerting. "Hey Georgina," she continued, glancing at the girl behind her cousin. Lily could've sworn that she saw the dark skin of Georgina redden the tiniest amount, but it was very hard to tell. _It's not fair. Black people have it so much easier when they want to hide embarrassment. I actually have to concentrate…_ she thought, picking herself up and carrying on walking.

"Oh, and Karl," she shouted over her shoulder at the seventeen-year-old who still looked a little uncomfortable. "Lipstick suits you – but your aim appears to be a little off." She grinned as Georgina bit back laughter, and Karl's face turned bright red. _Hmm,_ Lily thought, her grin still plastered on her face as she walked away, rounding the corner. _Embarrassment is not kind to Weasleys. Oh bugger_, she thought, stopping dead in her tracks and running back round the corner to where Karl was still standing with Georgina, and she had to fight back embarrassing comments as she watched him wipe the lipstick off his face.

"Oi, Karl," she said. He turned to look at her, exasperated. "Do you have any idea where I am?"

Karl laughed at the expression on Lily's face. "Yeah, seventh floor. Gryffindor Tower is basically up there, first left, second right, behind the Fat Lady. You remember the password, right?" Lily nodded, and shouted her thanks over her shoulder as she jogged off down the corridor, and he returned to his conversation with Georgina.

Lily rounded the final corner, still jogging, and ran straight up to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" the pink-clad lady asked, sounding incredibly bored.

"Flibbertigibbet," Lily said, and watched as the woman heaved an inattentive, relatively sorrowful sigh as the hidden door swung open, admitting Lily. She was still entirely unfamiliar with the whole school, and revised her decision to remain in the common room until dinner. Besides, she was starving, and wanted to find the kitchens.

She ran across the crowded common room, ignoring the irritated shouts she got from various people she disturbed. Al was having a conversation with Rose over a game of wizard's chess, which Al was losing badly. Lily smiled sympathetically at him, ran over, and pointed out the biggest weakness in Rose's defence. Rose glared, while Al looked grateful, and Lily sprinted up the steps to the girl's dormitories. Slowing slightly at the door emblazoned with the plaque that read "First Years", she ran inside and started rummaging through her trunk. Pulling out the Marauder's Map (she had stolen it from James), she ran back down the stairs, and grinned at her older brother, who had gained significantly more of Rose's pieces. Leaving the Gryffindor common room once again, Lily unfolded the Map, and thought for a second.

"Oh bugger," she muttered to herself, as she realised she didn't know how to work it. "Uh, I swear I'm not doing good?" she said uncertainly, tapping the parchment with her wand. Words spiralled out, forming slowly on the Map.

Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, are proud to present this piece of parchment, which you are never going to find out how to read.

_Oh yes I am,_ Lily thought defiantly, though slightly surprised at the appearance of writing, and tapped the parchment, saying, "I swear I am up to no good."

Mr Moony would like to point out that what you just said is obvious, for it appears to be clear what you, Lily Potter, are trying to do.

_Mr Wormtail would like to say in astonishment that he never expected Lily Evans to become Lily Potter._

_Mr Padfoot would like to say that Wormtail is a doofus, and that it was fairly obvious that was going to happen._

_Mr Prongs would like to say that he never realised that his Lilykins was _this_ smart, despite constant corrections in, well, everything._

"Well, various people I don't know, I am not your Lilykins as I have never met you. I stole this map from my brother, who got it from Dad, whose Dad made it, so yeah, I'm not entirely sure what you're on about," Lily said to the piece of parchment, tapping it with her wand again.

Mr Moony would like to say that he knows exactly who you are, Lily Potter, and is merely waiting for his three associates to shut up and realise that it is not Lily Evans to whom they are speaking.

_Mr Wormtail would like to express his confusion._

_Mr Padfoot would like to ask to whom he is speaking in that case, and would like to know about her heritage._

Mr Prongs would like to reprimand Mr Moony for his jibe against the intelligence of his three associates, before seconding Mr Padfoot's request.

"Well, if you all shut up, maybe I would've told you already," said Lily.

Mr Moony would like to second that.

_Mr Wormtail would like to know what is going on, please._

_Mr Padfoot would like to ask if Lily Potter has red hair, hazel eyes, is an annoying prat, and has a brother named James Potter._

Mr Prongs would like to point out that he had no sisters.

"Well, I, Lily Potter, would like to point out that Mr Padfoot is correct, minus the annoying prat, for that is the aforementioned James Potter's duty, and she is merely having this conversation because she has forgotten how to open this stupid Map," Lily exclaimed, growing rather irritated at the density of these four people – well, she had to concede Mr Moony wasn't so thick.

Mr Moony would like to say he is growing rather frustrated with his dense friends, and is requesting permission to explain.

_Mr Wormtail would like to beg for agreement from who is apparently Lily Potter._

_Mr Padfoot would like to grin smugly at Mr Prongs, because he realises who it is he is speaking to when it is in fact most important to Mr Prongs._

Mr Prongs would like to punch Mr Padfoot for insinuating that he understands and then not explaining properly.

"Lily Potter would like to laugh heartily, for she has found all of your frustrations incredibly amusing, and Mr Moony does have my permission to explain," said Lily, a small grin creeping across her face.

Mr Moony would like to point out that Mr Prongs should have worked this out, for he should remember talking to Mr James Potter junior before – this is Lily Potter, daughter of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, and that Harry Potter is, in turn, son of you and Lily Evans.

_Mr Wormtail would like to express his surprise that Mr Prongs ever got to have a baby with Lily Evans._

_Mr Padfoot would like to grin smugly again, and ask about the health of Lily's two brothers, Albus and James._

Mr Prongs would like to stare in amazement.

"Lily Potter would like you to shut up about who I am and tell me how to get into this Map, for she wants to know where the kitchens are," said Lily, chuckling despite her irritation.

Mr Moony would like to say that he hopes Lily Potter can work out that she must be solemn in her swearing of being up to no good.

_Mr Wormtail would like to tell Lily Potter that she must also be clear when she claims her mischief is managed to remove a certain map from this parchment._

_Mr Padfoot would like to say that he is, at least, glad that his almost-grandchild understands the importance of food, and would like to say that there is a very useful portrait of fruit downstairs in the basements._

Mr Prongs would like to say that he is absolutely thrilled to meet Miss Lily Potter, and that she should tickle the pair to retrieve her meal.

"OK, thanks," said Lily, surprised that she had gained an answer so quickly. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," she said, and gasped in amazement as spidery lines flew away from her wand, and the words that had previously appeared dissolved into the mess of ink. Slowly, the wriggling lines became a clear outline of each room in Hogwarts. She watched in awe as she saw hundreds of little dots appear all over the Marauder's Map, each labelled with a name. She looked to the hospital wing, where she saw a couple of Weasleys still with James, before Madame Lark came along, and the few that were still there left.

Remembering what the two people, Padfoot and Prongs, had said about the kitchens, her eyes travelled down to the basement, where she was unsurprised to see Fred and Lee's (Uncle Charlie's son's) dots sitting alone in a large room. She guessed it was the kitchen. Finding where she was herself, she started to walk down the stairs that she figured would lead her to the kitchen, the dot labelled "Lily Potter" following her movements.

She walked down corridor after corridor, staircase after staircase, all the way admiring her surroundings, trying to remember them. Eventually she found herself in a corridor that looked like it was just outside of the kitchens. Scanning the walls for a picture of a bowl of fruit, she groaned a little at the mouth-watering portraits. Finally locating the painting she was looking for, she uncertainly tickled the pear. She was just thinking how ridiculous she must look, when suddenly, the pear giggled and turned into a bright green door handle. Her eyes widened as she took hold of the handle and pulled. The door swung open.

Lily gasped as she stepped through the short tunnel that the portrait of fruit revealed. On the other side of the door, she looked around her, her eyes widening at the sight that greeted her. The room was huge, with house elves running around madly. There were five tables exactly like those in the Great Hall, and the little people were busy rushing around in their tea towels, preparing food and placing it carefully upon the five tables.

"Wotcha, Potter!" Lily turned at the sound of Fred's loud voice.

"Hey Lily!" called Lee, another tall Weasley cousin with the traditional bright red hair. "It didn't take you long to find here!" He seemed surprised.

"Well," said Fred, sniggering. "It seems she had a little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs." Lee gave him an odd look, and Lily guessed that Lee wasn't as aware of the Marauders as Fred, James and Al were.

Lily just gazed for a moment, slack-jawed, with a questioning look in her eyes and a slight frown creasing her forehead, before she regained her composure. She shook herself, and tapped the Map with her wand, saying "mischief managed," as she did. The ink lines on the Marauder's Map disappeared, and Lily stowed both the now blank parchment and her wand in the pockets of her jeans. She sat heavily with the two boys, and house elves hurried up to her from all directions, requesting her orders. As she answered, Lily turned back to Fred and Lee, who were both eating their way through a plate of chocolate éclairs. Very quickly, before Lily even had a chance to say anything to the two boys, a plate of spaghetti carbonara had been placed in front of her. As she wolfed it down, she felt stares coming from the two older Weasleys.

"Wha'?" she mumbled, through a mouthful of pasta.

"Well, I've never quite understood how you can eat with such… gusto," Lee said, as if trying to avoid hitting a nerve. Lily's eyes narrowed, and Fred continued.

"Girls are supposed to be dainty. You eat like a pig," he said bluntly.

"I'm 'ungry!" Lily said defensively, still piling the food into her mouth. "An' I li' sp'etti!"

"Well, Fred, I have to say, you aren't really one to talk," said Lee, noticing the cream from Fred's most recent éclair smeared all over the red t-shirt he was wearing. "Am I the only one of Weasley relations who doesn't eat like an animal?"

Lily scoffed, but thought better as she choked on a piece of bacon and had to be thumped repeatedly on the back before she could splutter, "you don't have the best manners either!"

It was Lee's turn to splutter. "Excuse me?" he asked incredulously. "_I_ don't have good manners?" He pressed his had against himself, clearly affronted.

"You _inhale_ your food! It shocks me you don't get indigestion every five seconds!" cried Lily, before forking another mouthful of spaghetti into her mouth.

"Yeah," Fred agreed, his voice muffled by another éclair. "Youw a filffy eambta oo!"

Lee sat with a disgusted expression on his face for a moment, his gaze flicking between the two red-heads, both with vast amounts of food shoved into their mouths, before he burst out laughing at the irony of it all.

"You! You two, so…" he spluttered, at a loss for words as he gasped for air. "_Ridiculous_! So ridiculous!" Fred and Lily exchanged bewildered looks before returning to their food with a ravenous zeal, completely disregarding the hysterical teenager in front of them.

The house elves, all scurrying around the kitchens hard at work, completely missed the exchange between the three cousins. All except for one, an elf with a nose like a mushroom, and the traditional large, pointy ears. He chuckled to himself quietly, as he listened to the Weasleys.

"Hoppy thinks that he will be seeing the Potter girl for more pasta," he giggled to himself quietly, earning him some reproving glares from the other house elves. He giggled harder, before turning, and running off into the other workers as he ran.

"No Dippy!" he called. "Hoppy said it's a _bad_ idea to set pans on fire, _bad_ Dippy!"

Lily groaned as she flopped on her bed at the end of the day. Her stomach felt uncomfortably full, a rarity. She had not only stuffed herself full of spaghetti carbonara before dinner, but at the meal itself, she continued to shovel as much into her mouth as possible. _Ugh_, she thought. _I never thought I'd say this, but Mum was right. I need to stop eating…_

"Lily…" Jazz's musical voice broke the silence. "We have lessons tomorrow, don't we." Lily grunted an affirmative. "Get your stuff in your bag, then. We want to be ready tomorrow."

Unwillingly, Lily dragged herself to her trunk, which she had still failed to unpack, and shoved some quills, ink and parchment into her bag, along with a muggle notebook enchanted to never run out of paper. It was completely empty, as Ginny had only bought it for her that summer, but Lily intended to fill it with anything and everything. She changed into her sheep pyjamas again, before flopping back down on to her bed to nurse her overwhelmed stomach.

"Blast this food," Lily muttered. "They shouldn't let me eat so much!"

Jazz chuckled quietly as Zara and Phoebe walked into the dormitory, both holding their wands aloft, having a fake duel.

"I will beat you, Oh He Who Must Apparently Still Not Be Named!" Phoebe was shouting, her brown eyes sparkling jokingly.

"Never, you shall die!" shouted Zara, her bright blue eyes wild to match her unruly chocolate bob. _Huh. Either she's Voldemort's long-lost daughter, or she's a really good actress_, Lily mused. Laughing, she and Jazz joined the fake battle, hurrying to find their wands. Jazz, having organised all her belongings perfectly already, found hers in a matter of seconds, but Lily had to hunt for hers.

Finally locating it nestling between a green sneaker and packet of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, she admired her new wand appreciatively. She thought back to when she had gone with her father to buy it – her mum had been too busy trying to keep an eye on the two boys as they wreaked havoc in George's joke shop.

The place was so strange. It was full of countless boxes, row upon row of them, leading deep into the recesses of the shadowed corners. She shivered slightly, and felt her dad's grip on her shoulders tighten for a second – the shop had never been a particularly pleasant place for him, either.

"_Hello?" called Harry, into the darkness. "Anyone here?" Lily's head swivelled into a far corner as she sensed a presence move. Her dad still looked around for a few seconds, until the presence left the darkness and came forwards, towards Lily._

_Ollivander sat in his wheelchair, gazing at Lily through large, pale eyes. He was old; his decrepit form was unable to move below the knee, and his hair was white and wispy above his pale, lined face. He was still alive though, still making wands, despite everything he had been through, all the torturing he had faced. He was powerful._

"_Hello Mr Ollivander," said Harry from behind his daughter. Ollivander acknowledged Harry with a nod of the head, before he turned back to Lily._

"_Well, Miss Potter," he said. His voice was rasping and hoarse, though Lily could tell he was still strong and unafraid. "I was wondering about you. I know you're two brothers were hard to pick for, being Potters, but there has not been a Potter daughter for generations. The last was over two centuries ago… She was too powerful…" Ollivander trailed into silence, leaving Lily gazing at him with interest, but Harry looked almost concerned. It was difficult to understand why._

"_Hello?" A dreamy voice wafted forwards from the shelves, followed by its owner, a tall blonde woman wearing odd radish earrings and a slightly dazed expression._

"_Luna," Harry said warmly, stepping forwards for a moment to hug the woman. "I forgot you work here. How's Dean these days? And Astra and Cyrus?" Lily zoned out of their conversation as the two adults continued to reminisce about the past._

_Ollivander stared at Lily blindly, lost in thought. She started to feel uncomfortable._

"_Uh, Mr Ollivander?" Lily said after a minute. "I need a wand?"_

_Ollivander seemed to shake himself, and turned back to Lily._

"_Yes," he said. His tape measure started taking Lily's measurements as he began hunting through the wands. "So much power in one so young, it must be hard to live with outbursts…" Lily felt bewildered as she listened to his mumbling, catching loose words such as "power", "aggression" and "strength". To her it sounded like he was calling her exceedingly powerful, and that it would be very dangerous if she lost her mind. She felt faintly insulted at the idea her losing it. It would be way too weird._

"_Try this," Ollivander said, coming back from the shelves carrying a mountain of long, thin boxes, and handing her the topmost one. As she took it, he snatched the tape measure back from the air. "Ash wood, unicorn hair, eleven and a half inches."_

_Looking uncertainly at her father, who nodded reassuringly, she waved the wand. Nothing happened. Ollivander snatched the wand away quickly, and thrust another into her hand. Again, nothing happened. Lily went through wand after wand after wand, still not finding her match. The sky outside grew dark as the time passed._

"_You'll find yours eventually," said Luna calmly, hearing Lily groan in frustration as yet another wand was snatched away. She reached up to place a box back where it belonged. "There is always a wand."_

"_Try this one, Miss Potter," Mr Ollivander said again, as what felt like the thousandth one was pushed at her fingers. Again nothing happened when she waved the stick of holly wood. Again it was taken away as quickly as it had come. Lily grew frustrated, even angry, and as she took another wand, which was stolen away from her almost immediately, she practically screamed at the ceiling. She had been there for hours, and still was wandless._

_Ollivander froze for a moment, a look of enlightenment on his face, before rushing off to find another box as fast as his chair would allow. Lily was oblivious at the time, and she noticed nothing different about the new wand he brought out until it was thrust into her hand. She felt the wood grow hot under her fingers. It seemed to be emitting a glow in her hand. Suddenly, most likely a side effect of her frustration, the wand burst into flames. Harry and Luna both jumped and gasped at the fire, which were now emitting purple sparks, but Ollivander merely flinched slightly. Lily herself, after realising that the flames weren't harming her, stood staring at the wand, feeling the power flow through her arm, feeding the wand. It was an odd sensation. A grin spread itself across her face._

_She had found her wand._

_The first thought that came into her head was; _Finally!

"_Interesting - I had not thought to try this wand, it has gone so long without choosing a wielder," said Ollivander, looking curiously at the wand. The fire disappeared, though the wood still felt warm to the touch. "I never could have guessed at such…"_

"_Um, Mr Ollivander," said Lily, interrupting the old man's thoughts. "Hi, yeah, um, can you explain it please? I want to know why your giving my wand such funny looks."_

_Ollivander looked at Lily for a moment, before he spoke, his scratchy voice containing an odd note of emotion that Lily couldn't quite place. "That wand is old," he said. "So very old – it was one of the first wands I have ever made. I was experimenting – I knew the way to make a wand, and I wanted to see what would happen if I did something differently, or added a new part. So I did." Ollivander gestured towards the wand, and Lily looked back down at it curiously. At first glance, it appeared a regular wand, until she noticed the interesting patterns carved into the wand; they were so shallow and fine it was hard to see them, but they were there._

"_Ebony, twelve inches, mildly springy, with a core of salamander scale. It's the first wand I ever knew was powerful. It is probably the most powerful wand I have ever created – when I first attempted to sell it after trying to use it myself and deeming it a bad job, it was only because I could tell this boy had power. But the wand had more; it reacted so very forcefully, that wall has never been the same, and the ceiling forever crooked," Ollivander continued, pointing at a dark wall of the room. The stones were bare and black, but Lily did not put too much thought into it._

"_Mr Ollivander," said Harry, after listening to the entire conversation. Before he asked the question, he thought he already knew the answer. "Who caused that reaction?"_

_Ollivander's face darkened. "The boy that would grow to be Lord Voldemort." Harry's jaw was set, his face a mixture of pride, passion and sorrow._

_Neither Harry nor Ollivander said anything else on the subject, and Harry paid Ollivander for the wand, before leading a vaguely bewildered Lily out of the shop, waving goodbye to Luna as she stacked the boxes of wands lying around the shop._

"_Dad," Lily said, as she carried her new wand back to the Leaky Cauldron._

_He looked at her questioningly. "Hmm?"_

"_Well, you know what Mr Ollivander said about my wand blowing up Voldypants a century ago, well, I was just wondering why you looked… like… well, miserappy."_

"_Miserappy?" Harry repeated. He was sure he was supposed to have worked it out – his youngest child often mixed words together when she couldn't think of the right descriptor, and Ginny had a knack for unscrambling them._

"_Yeah, miserable and happy at the same time. I just wondered," said Lily, shrugging._

"_Well, partly I was miserappy because I was reminded of Voldemort, and then of Voldemort being gone, and then I remembered what my wand did."_

And so, Lily learnt the full story of the twin cores.

Lily lightly traced the carvings on her ebony wand as she squatted on the dormitory floor.

"Oi, Lily!" shouted Jazz. "We're fighting Voldemort here, help us win you bastard!"

Lily was yanked out of her daydream, and she stood and laughed. "I'm so sorry to disappoint you lovely Aurors, but I am not only going to help you beat Voldypants here, I am going to make him run away screaming with his metaphorical tail between his legs!"

Jazz laughed, but Zara looked a little offended. "_Him_? Do I look like a boy to you?" Her lapse in attention earned her a faceful of sparks from Phoebe, who was so surprised about the sudden emission that she was staring at her wand, utterly nonplussed. Lily laughed, and jumped towards the other three girls, all of whom were laughing at Phoebe's nonplussed expression.

"Hey Moldywarts! Prepare to die!" Lily brandished her wand, and a single red spark shot out, which disappeared almost as soon as it had come into existence. The other girls laughed, and spent the rest of the evening continuing their fight. Voldemort, of course, died at the end, and the tragic, weepy show Zara put on for them reminded the Gryffindors how much they needed their rest. Exhausted, Lily flopped her head on to her pillow, and fell asleep as soon as it hit.


	6. New Regimes

**A/N:** An update! Quickly! I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter, or the chapter before, or the chapter before, so can I please get one? Please? Constructive criticism is fine - I don't think I'm writing very well, having read 's stories, so reading them as well will probably make you feel inadequate, but do it anyway. After reading mine, please... :P

And yes, Lizzie, that was a warped sort of compliment.

* * *

Lily was walking along a road. It was the height of summer, and the sun was shining into her face as singing birds flew around her. There was thick green grass on either side of the rocky track. Widely spaced trees surrounding the road seemed to be reaching up and into the blue sky. Lily smiled as the sun warmed the skin on her face. She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh scent of the world. Suddenly, the warmth of the sun disappeared. She stopped walking, and her forehead creased into a frown. Opening her eyes, she noticed that the road had disappeared. The entire scene had gone, and had been replaced with a dense grey fog. Though she could still hear the chirping of the birds, it seemed far away, echoing slightly in the gloom.

Looking around, Lily started to feel scared. She cursed herself quietly – fear was not an emotion she was comfortable with. She was very bad at dealing with it; a scared Lily often resulted in an angry Lily, ending with a very damaged bedroom. The birdsong was starting to unnerve her. It sounded _wrong_. There shouldn't be birdsong in a grey, foggy place of nothingness. Her resolve started to waver, and she felt her hands tremble slightly.

The birdsong started repeating itself. It sounded like the type of tune that small children are sang nursery rhymes to, but it was still just birds. The little phrase repeated itself over and over, and Lily felt the fear building up in her chest. _It shouldn't be here_, she thought, spinning around, trying to find the birds, scare them away. She ran forward, and still only heard the same song. The sound was becoming louder, more intense, and it made Lily's ears ring. She clutched at her head, feeling as though her head was going to explode. Her fingernails clawed at her scalp, and she raked them across the sensitive skin. Her body shook, dry sobs wracking her slight frame. She collapsed on to the floor, and curled up in a ball, her hands still on her head, with her eyes squeezed shut.

Suddenly, the noise stopped.

She opened her eyes and looked around her. She was sitting on a rocky outcrop, ending a few centimetres from her. The chasm before her was filled with the grey fog, coils swirling unpleasantly below her. She put her hands down on the ground to push herself up, and was shocked to see blood on them. _My blood_.

The ground lurched. She started slipping towards the fog. A wave of terror washed over her.

"No, no, no, no," she muttered, as the rocky ledge tipped towards the fog. "No more, please, _no more_, I CAN'T TAKE IT!" But the rock wouldn't hear her pleas for help. There was no one to hear them. The ledge tipped further, and Lily felt herself falling back into the dark. The birdsong returned, more eerie and spooky than before. She screamed as she fell. She was screaming so loudly. She was trying to release her fear, her pure unadulterated terror, trying to get it _out_-

Lily's eyes snapped open.

She was breathing heavily. Her eyes were wide as she tried to work out where she was.

She couldn't remember.

Fear was still flowing freely through her veins. She trembled as she searched her mind frantically, wanting to know where on Earth she was. Images flashed through her mind, of home, of Grandma and Grandpa Weasley's – the Burrow, of Shell Cottage where Bill and Fleur lived, of the flat above Weasley Wizard Wheezes where her uncle George occasionally bunked due to lots of work at the shop – but none of those places seemed right. Slowly she worked up the courage to tear her eyes away from the deep crimson curtain before her, and she peeked out through a gap in the hangings.

When she saw the other girls, asleep in their beds, she finally twigged that she was at Hogwarts. She was safe. There was nothing to hurt her here.

Lily's brown eyes flicked towards the clock on her bedside table. It was only a few minutes before she had planned to get up, so she decided she might as well get a head start. Locking herself in the bathroom, she took a long shower, feeling the tension left over from the dream wash down the drain. She couldn't even remember what happened properly. All she could recall was the utter _terror_ she had felt.

A loud buzzing came from the dormitory as Lily left the bathroom wearing a dressing gown and a towel on her head. _Oh bugger_, she thought, and ran over to her clock. She had forgotten to turn the alarm off, and it wasn't exactly quiet. _I really hope it hasn't woken the-_

"LILY POTTER!"

_Oh shit_.

"WHAT ON EARTH?!" Jazz was sitting up in her bed, black hair all over her face. The expression on her face was a cross between absolutely furious and very scared. "Lily, what is that noise!"

"And you automatically assume it was me? You've only known me a day!" Lily countered, a little more aggressively than was strictly necessary. Despite being effectively woken up by her shower, Lily was still grouchy in the mornings.

"Well, I was asleep, and then this _really_ loud buzzing comes from your bedside table, and seconds after I open my eyes you are standing there and the buzzing has stopped! What am I supposed to assume? That it was Phoebe?" Jazz gestured at Phoebe, who had also woken at the sound of the alarm, and was, again, lying on the floor, staring up at her hangings with a slightly dazed expression on her face. Zara, miraculously, had slept through the whole thing.

"Well maybe you should sleep through it next time," said Lily, still cross. Within the Weasley-Potter family, it was a well-known fact that 'good morning' was a contradiction of terms to Lily. The slight shakiness she still felt from the dream was not helping to improve her mood.

"LILY!"

"BAAAH!"

"Huh?"

Phoebe had finally realised where she was, and had proceeded to celebrate this fact by screaming at Lily for waking her. For some inexplicable reason, Zara had only just been woken up. Lily cocked her eyebrow slightly, a sceptical expression on her face. She found it immensely difficult to believe that Zara could sleep through Lily's alarm, Jazz screaming, and Phoebe falling out of bed, but _wake up_ when Phoebe yelled. Jazz appeared to be thinking roughly the same thing, judging by the confused expression on her face.

"Seriously, I don't want to explain right now. I'm getting ready," said Lily, sighing and locking herself back in the bathroom to get changed into her robes. When she returned, the others were still slowly extracting themselves from their covers, so Lily decided to go on without them. Looking carefully down at her vast collection of Converse, she picked out a black pair to wear with her school skirt. School shoes had never been at the top of her list of priorities. Even if Jasper had been put in many a detention for wearing the wrong shoes over the years.

_Meh. At least these are black._

"Oi, Lily!"

Lily grumbled when she heard James interrupt her breakfast. Still slightly grumpy, due to it being the earliest she had woken up all summer – bar the previous morning – she chose to ignore him. It was just too early.

"Lily." His voice made her jump, making her sit straight up. Unfortunately, James' face was right behind her head, so when Lily ceased to be slouching over her cereal, the back of her head collided with his nose rather forcefully. Two sensations reached Lily at almost exactly the same time; a sudden, sharp pain in the back of her head, and the sound of James yelling, "Aw, _shit_!" at the top of his voice.

Lily turned a moment after, to see James fixing his nose with his wand. He had learnt how to do that in his first year – being forced to go running to an adult because his little sister broke his nose again was very wearing.

"Uh, yeah, what is it James?" Lily said, rubbing the back of her head.

"I just wanted to say that you have to stay here to get your timetable from the Head of House, and, um…" James trailed off uncertainly, and pushed his glasses up his nose as he looked up the breakfast table, as if for reassurance he was doing the right thing. Before Lily could locate the person he was looking at, however, James continued talking. "And I, um, ."

Lily looked at him suspiciously, still nursing the sore spot on her head. "What?"

"Um, I, uh, wanted to apologise for being, um, a really bad older brother, and, um, making you get mad at me all the time…" James looked so terrified, it was almost laughable. His eyes were screwed up in a premature wince behind his wire-rimmed glasses, and he looked as if it were taking all his concentration and will power to say the words he was pushing out. His hand was in his hair – it was a nervous habit of his to push it back.

"Oh. Well. Um," said Lily. She was undoubtedly surprised by James' sudden apology. It didn't really seem to make a lot of sense. "Right. Uh… I guess I'm sorry too. I mean, for beating you up and all… And… um… yeah…" She trailed off, unsure as to what to say. James seemed to be in the same position. Suddenly, a tall, thin, bespectacled man walked up to hand out the timetables, ending the uncomfortable silence between the two siblings.

"Good morning Gryffindors!" said the man, his pointed hat covering an entirely bald head, except for his thick black moustache. "For all you first years down there, I am Professor Flibbin, the Potions teacher, and also Head of Gryffindor! Ok, I have all of your timetables right here, and I am very pleased to say that Gryffindor first years, you will all be seeing me later today for Double Potions! How fantastidaisical is that?" All of the Gryffindor first years were staring at the professor as if he was insane. He was suspiciously ecstatic for a teacher. _Actually_, thought Lily. _He's just suspiciously ecstatic._

After the positively bouncing professor walked away from the students and out of the Great Hall, each wore exactly the same baffled expression on his or her face. Lily looked around at her other first years. Ivan's elbow was in his porridge and his robes were covered in orange juice because of how fast he'd turned to see who this utterly ridiculous person was. Finn's dark brown hair had literally been blown back – _how_ Lily was not quite sure, but probably due to the sudden wave of happiness that had washed over them – so that his tanned face was haloed by it. Phoebe and Zara were both looking completely perplexed, and Jazz, Henry and Leo looked plain scared. Lily could agree with that particular view. For a start, he looked like he had actually _meant it_ when he had said "good morning". That was never a good sign.

All of a sudden, every single one of the eight eleven-year-olds were laughing loudly and boisterously, completely forgetting about the valuable timetables clutched in their hands.

"H-he… there are no words!" spluttered Jazz, dissolving into another bout of giggles.

"Di-did you see his mou-mous-moustache?" cried Lily, all morning grouchiness gone as she collapsed in on herself in mirth. The others' laughter redoubled in strength as they each recalled the way the teacher's moustache had wobbled comically as he spoke.

Their laughter went on for minutes, and each of the first years was in danger of suffocating if they did not get enough air soon. Slowly, the laughter subsided, and they gasped for breath, though amusement was still shining from their faces. A few of the other students sitting at breakfast were looking at the Gryffindor table, utterly perplexed, as all of the other Gryffindors had expressions of absolute horror pasted across their faces.

Lily, noticing this, called up the table to Jasper, who was sitting with some fellow fifth years.

"Oi, Jasper! Why is everyone looking so… well… horrified?" Jasper literally jumped out of his reverie, and stared at Lily for a moment before he registered that she had actually requested an answer.

"He is crazy," Jasper stage-whispered across the otherwise dead silence that was the Gryffindor table. "This is the dude who you find funny, but should _never_ be put in a position of power. What was McGonagall thinking?"

"Um. What?" Lily said, looking utterly lost.

"That, as you can see, was Professor Flibbin. He's… um… how can I say this? Eccentric," said Rose, who was much better at explaining things than the speechless Jasper. "He was only Potions master last year, so it was alright only having to deal with him a couple of times a week; otherwise it stops being funny. But the old head retired at the end of last year, so Ted took up his Transfiguration Professor post, which he's wanted ever since he left Hogwarts, and Flibbin got to be Head of Gryffindor apparently. Clearly McGonagall didn't feel the need to tell us at the start of term feast…" Rose trailed into silence, and began staring at the water jug in front of her with a concerned expression in her unseeing eyes.

Slowly, Lily turned back to the first years. "O-kay then…" she said, dragging out the syllables. Though smiles were still showing on their faces, they looked a little befuddled too – clearly having listened to Rose's explanation.

The next ten minutes passed in relative silence at the Gryffindor end of the Hall. It worried the rest of the school slightly; Gryffindor, being home of a bunch of Weasleys, was normally the rowdiest table. All of the older students continued to stare at their breakfast in horror, and the first years pondering the appointment of the apparently annoying professor.

"OH SHIT!"

Everyone in the Hall started and looked up, just in time to see Rose streaking out, little more than a red and black blur. Most of the older students were sighing and getting up slowly, dragging their feet towards the door. This time it was Aimee Weasley who answered the questioning looks of the first years.

"Everyone knows that when Rose leaves the Great Hall, it's time for classes," explained the redhead, as she walked by with her twin sister, Sadie.

"She's so _studious_, it's unnatural," Sadie added. Being in Rose's year, they knew her the best out of all of the family. Suddenly, Fred ran up behind the two girls.

"What's this I hear about you kissing a boy?" he said accusingly to Sadie. Her blue eyes narrowed suspiciously at her older brother as they walked, and Lily ignored the rest of the conversation. They had arguments every other day – what was interesting was that Aimee had never fought with Fred in her entire life.

"Huh, Transfiguration first," said Jazz suddenly, pulling Lily out of her thoughts. "With… Hufflepuff. Come on guys," she continued, standing up.

"MAGIC!" the boys suddenly shouted, then looked at each other, shocked at the way they had said it simultaneously. Jazz just laughed lightly, and led the way out of the Great Hall.

"So, if you all listened properly to the theory, transfiguring your box into a goblet should not be too much trouble," concluded Teddy Lupin, smiling slightly at the assembled first years. "Everyone, start." He was pleased by the attention he had got from the students. He knew that it was probably mainly first-day nerves that prevented them from speaking, but it proved that they were all controllable. He sat down behind his desk to watch the eleven-year-olds all wave their wands at the small trinket boxes sat before them. None of them were really succeeding, just creating small puffs of smoke as they said the incantation. Suddenly, a massive boom erupted from the back of the classroom, followed by two shocked yells, a thud and a loud "_ouch_!"

"Is everything alright back there?" Teddy called, standing and walking towards the fallen student. He rolled his eyes as he saw who it was. "Lily, what did you do?"

Lily just looked up at him from the floor, propping herself up on her elbow while holding her skirt up with the other arm. She looked rather uncomfortable, still in a sitting position on the now horizontal chair.

"I was just doing what everyone else was doing," said Lily defensively, rolling off the chair and setting it upright again. "It's not my fault that my wand blew my chair over backwards." She was barely half the blue-haired professor's height, but he was still a little put off by her irritation.

"Let me see your wand movement," he said, covering up the uncomfortable feeling smoothly. She waved her wand at the box as she had been instructed, saying the incantation, and again a loud bang emitted from her wand, along with a huge cloud of smoke, and Lily jumped backwards. Teddy's brow furrowed as he looked at the wand for a moment. He was sure- no, he must have imagined it- but maybe, he could have sworn he saw, even though it was for just a second, some strange pattern on the dark wood of the wand _glow_. Shaking himself slightly, he thought back to what his god sister had done wrong.

"Ok, well Lily, you're waving your wand a little too loosely for the spell to work," he said. Lily looked at him curiously as he demonstrated. "You need to make the movement a little smaller, like this – _abeo_." The box on Lily's table transformed into a small golden goblet, embossed with the words 'have a go'. Lily quirked her eyebrow as she read it, and Teddy hastily changed the goblet back into a trinket box.

"Ok, so it's like this," said Lily, and pointed her wand at the box. "_Abeo_." There it was again; that blue patterned glow. Professor Lupin was distracted almost immediately, however, by the silvery-blue goblet that Lily had produced.

"Well done, Lily, ten points to Gryffindor," said Teddy. She was just standing, her gaze flicking between her wand and the goblet sitting on the table.

"Uh, thanks Teds… But how the _hell_ did I do that?" she said, her brow furrowed.

"Lily, its Professor Lupin now. _Remember_?" said Teddy, reminding her of the previous five times he had reprimanded her for that particular offence that lesson. "And it's called _magic_. You know, that thing where you can change one thing to another, make potions, make stuff fly?" A small smirk played around his lips, and Lily glared at him as the rest of the class tittered appreciatively.

"I wouldn't be too condescending, Teds. I know a hell of a lot more than you give me credit. Like when you first-" Lily started to say.

"-If the next thing that comes out of your mouth in any way relates to my personal life, I will take away twenty points and put you in a week's detention," Teddy interrupted. "You may be my god sister, but you are still my student, so you will not use blackmail on me."

Lily looked grumpy, and she folded her arms sulkily. Professor Lupin just raised his eyebrow at her, and turned back to the rest of the class.

"Alright, everyone, Lily has just proved that it _is_ possible for a first year to do successful magic on their first day, so I want all of you to get back to work, and see if you can make a goblet as well. Those of you who succeed, come forward to get another box, and the person who makes the most goblets at the end of the lesson wins a prize. Off you go," said Teddy, and began walking around the classroom, giving people pointers.

"Hey, Lils," Jazz muttered, nudging Lily, who was sitting next to her. "You ok?"

"Huh? Yeah, yeah, fine," said Lily, jolted out of her daydream. "Um… I need another box…"

With that, Lily stood, and collecting another box from the front of the classroom, continued to try to transfigure it into a goblet. Very little happened for the next ten minutes; no one else actually succeeded in transfiguring their box, but the ceiling was starting to get a little faint behind all of the clouds of smoke.

"Hey, Jazz." Jazz turned to find the source of the murmur. "Hellooo, stone-ears! It's Leo. _Abeo_. Bazinga!" Leo stood and did a rather loud and clumsy victory dance, earning amused glances and laughter from the rest of the class.

"'Bazinga'? Seriously?" Jazz asked incredulously, but trying not to raise her voice over the low level of noise coming from the other students – as well as the occasional bang from Lily's wand.

"What's up with Lily?" asked Leo, as he walked by to get his second box.

"I don't know. I've known her a day and a half – how do I know what's wrong if she hasn't told me? Maybe there isn't anything wrong at all! Have you considered that possibility?" said Jazz, in a relatively snappy mood. She was a competitive girl, and having two people beaten her to the objective was not pleasing her. _Oh, wait, three people_, she thought, as Finn also went to get his next box.

"Leo, if you want to know what's wrong, why don't you ask me? It's likely I'm actually going to know," said Lily across the classroom. "_Abeo_."

Leo rolled his grey eyes. "Fine. Lily, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Lily. "You aren't great with the emotions-sense thing are you? I'm just confused as to why my wand keeps making louder bangs than the rest of yours. Why should I be mad? _Abeo_."

Leo blinked, and watched Lily's wand as she attempted the spell again. Again, it created a loud smoke explosion, but he noticed something Lily had missed when she flinched at the noise. Her wand was glowing.

"_ABEO_! Aha!" A loud shout came from Jazz as she finally succeeded in making her trinket box turn into a three-inch black goblet, with many small rubies embedded in the sides. "I did it!" she cried, before blushing at the attention she had unknowingly gained from the other students.

"Well done, Jasabella, is it? See if you can do it again with another box," said Professor Lupin, a small smile playing around his mouth at the exuberance of the girl.

"Its Jazz sir, and thanks," she said, before practically dancing down the classroom, feeling more than a little victorious to have achieved the spell.

"Well done Jazz!" called Ivan, a slight Russian accent showing through his impeccable English. Though she had not heard him say much at all, Lily was beginning to think that his grammar was actually better than hers was.

"Uh, Lily," Henry said slowly, watching with Leo as Lily successfully transformed her second trinket box into another silvery-blue goblet.

"Yeah? Wait, why are you staring at my wand?" Lily gasped dramatically, as if in realisation. "Are you _wand stalkers_?"

"What? No!" cried Leo, his brow furrowing in shock at the accusation. "We're not perving on your wand!"

"Yeah, Lily, I was just wondering if you'd noticed that it's glowing – and how the hell do you perv on a wand? It's a stick of wood," said Henry, making a confused face at Leo. His mousy hair was spiked straight up, making him look a little like he was a mildly disgruntled hedgehog.

"Oh my God, you are so dead when you realise the implications of that sentence," said a voice from the doorway. Standing there was Lee Weasley, a sixth year, whose eyebrow was cocked slightly in amusement. Lily threw a scrunched up piece of parchment at him.

"Lee, ew. Just ew," she said.

Lee's innocent defence was cut short as Professor Lupin interrupted him.

"Lee, may I query as to why you have graced my class with your astonishingly obscene presence," he said, looking at the only Weasley brave enough to get a buzz-cut – Grandma Weasley had very nearly had a heart attack.

"I apologise profusely if you are referring to my unruly attire, but in contempt of this certainty, I fail to successfully visualise the reasoning behind your extensive terminology," replied Lee. Ever since Teddy Lupin had married his older sister – incidentally the only blonde with Weasley blood, they had often engaged in battles of wit such as this to see who could run out of words in their vocabulary.

"Although it may appear to the untrained vibration receiving device that our mindless palaver is feckless and disjointed, it is in truth profoundly imperative that I best you in this trial." Teddy replied with a smug smile on his face, seeming to temporarily forget that he had a class full of students watching the exchange with confusion. Everyone except Lily, that is.

"Well, considering that a certain duet proclaiming their contemptible yet complex statements that make them feel as if they are creating an air of grandeur concerning their vocabulary before my corneas are rendering my classmates uncertain with their atypical form of banter, I feel as though I must terminate said persiflage," she said, brushing her red hair out of her eyes. Not only did Lee and Professor Lupin turn to her in amazement, so did the rest of her class.

"Lily," said Jared, through the stunned silence. "What the hell?" Lily noticed that he had spiked up his light brown hair as well - much like most of the other boys, actually – and it added at least another inch to his already abnormal height.

"I think that about sums up the thoughts of everyone in the room, actually, Lils. How the _fuck_ did you just win our contest?" Exclaimed Lee loudly. Lily sighed.

"You're my cousin. I'm around a hell of a lot of the time, you know," she said, rolling her eyes. "My ears work."

"Right," said Teddy, seeming a little unsettled by the unknown yet very good listening skills of the eleven-year-old. "Anyway, everyone go back to work. What was it you wanted, Lee?" he asked.

"Yeah, I need you to come turn Greenhouse 3 back to glass…" said Lee, looking a little uncomfortable. He wasn't nearly as proud of wrong-doings as Fred and James were. After all, his father had worked with dragons – it was important to abide by rules, and that's what he had been taught.

"Oh dear God," said Teddy, burying his face in his hands. "It's the first day back, _my_ first ever lesson, and you have me changing the Greenhouses back from jelly _already_? I'm not Head Boy anymore; I can't just leave lessons at will."

"Yeah, it's not jelly, I moved on from that after first year. Yeah, it's… chocolate…"

"Oh no," said Teddy. "Right, everyone, the bell's gonna go in about five minutes, so I want all of you to pack up now. Carry on to your next lesson when the bell goes." With that, he strolled out of the classroom.


	7. I'm Not Going to Hell

**A/N:** An update! I actually don't have a clue when I update, and it always feels like forever, but I swear it was only last week. I swear only about four people are actually reading this anyway. But if you have taken the time to bother reading my probably not very good story, please, please, please review - Lizzie, my beta, is sort of in Hong Kong. So hasn't been able to beta. And I know, the magical power of email and all that, but it's an eight hour time difference, and she - unlike me - is busy. So sorry if it's blarg, but I enjoyed writing this chapter :) Oh, and I have Easter holidays now, and am not only writing my fic, but when I get bored, I'm drawing characters as well, so I may scan them so you can see my interpretation of them :P

**DISCLAIMER: JK Rowling is a genius. And unfortunately not me. So I am forced to say, with great regret, that none of the characters or settings are mine, barring my many OCs. Who I am proud of.**

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"Lily!"

"...Hmm?"

"Finally, a response... What's up?"

"...What?"

"What's. Up."

"...The sky?"

Jared slapped his hand against his face, a little harder than he had intended. He hit his head backwards a few inches, so that it collided with the stone wall he was standing in front of as he waited to be let into the Charms classroom; his second lesson of the year, again with Gryffindor. He blinked in surprise as the red palm print on his face faded back to its usual pale hue. Snapping out of her thought-induced stupor, the more sadistic side of Lily took over, and she spluttered in laughter at the utterly ridiculous baffled expression on the eleven-year-old's face.

"I said something..." said Jared vaguely, his large brow furrowing as he tried to remember. Lily stood watching in amusement, her dark red hair tickling her face.

"Oh! Lily, what's wrong?" the Hufflepuff asked. Lily's amusement grew rapidly, fluttering up her throat before it emerged in a laugh.

"Oh my God, Diggory. You're such a retard," she said to the tall boy, and watched him, entertained by the way his steely grey eyes had shown confusion, then comprehension, before going right back to confusion.

"Nothing's wrong. Does it really look like there is?" Lily explained, rolling her eyes, but still smiling.

"No... but... it _did_... I'm confused!" Jared whined, utterly nonplussed.

"Nah, I was just thinking about my wand being weird," said Lily. "And no, I don't know why it was glowing – I didn't even notice for most of Transfiguration anyway."

"Oh. Right, fair enough."

"Class, enter," a woman's voice echoed into the corridor. "Stand at the back of the classroom, and I will tell you where you will sit." The woman speaking had a very posh, upper-class British accent, and it suggested zero tolerance. As Lily entered with the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, she saw that the professor's appearance accented this. She looked no older than thirty, but the way her blonde hair was tightly held in a high bun on the back of her head made her look like her face was being pushed out from inside. She had relatively pretty features, but the expression that clearly said 'you will do what I say or you will pay in blood' didn't suit them. Her immaculate suit, though clearly presentable, was not flattering. A pair of rimless glasses perched on the end of her nose and a folder and pen held to her chest completed the rather depressing ensemble.

"Now, I am going to seat you in an alphabetised order, and I expect you to be utterly silent. Here, at the front, Jonathon Adams." A Hufflepuff walked to the front, and was placed next to a girl called Josephine Briggs. The seating plan continued; Jazz was put next to a very bubbly round-faced Hufflepuff girl called Rebekha Histram, Finn on the desk behind next to Ryan Kinn, Henry and Ivan were put together, and Leo was sat next to Lily. The other two Gryffindor girls were also next to Hufflepuffs, and though Zara looked a little bored, Phoebe immediately started a conversation – the silence rule had been completely ignored.

"Class, these are your seats for the rest of the year, and if you move, I will punish appropriately. Now, today's lesson is going to be about the theory of Charms. I never like to start a lesson with magic, it's utterly ridiculous. I am Miss Stormer, and I will be known as such – none of this silly 'Professor' business. A professor is an old man in a dusty university, and I am not. Now, if-"

"That's actually not true, Professor," said Lily loudly, interrupting the teacher. The woman was being incredibly irritating.

"Excuse me?" she said, incredulous. Clearly, no-one had ever disobeyed her before. _That's interesting_, thought Lily. _I mean, James and Fred are both taught by her, not to mention the rest of our family_...

"A professor is not an old man in a dusty university. A professor is actually a teacher at the top of his or her subject, and is just often an 'old man in a dusty university' as you so eloquently put it because they enjoy studying in dusty universities to find out more about their chosen major, and because it takes them such a long time to get to be the best. So technically, you're telling us to pretend you're not actually as good as you are if you are refusing to let us call you a professor, Professor," said Lily rapidly, looking the dumbstruck woman straight in the eye as she spoke. There was a moment of silence as the woman took in what Lily had said.

"Don't be silly, girl," she finally spluttered. She checked a piece of parchment in front of her before continuing. "Ah, Miss Potter. It seems that because you have a famous father the authority has gone to your head. You cannot say what you wish in this classroom, Miss Potter, and you will call me Miss Stormer." Lily frowned. Even though she sounded convincing, Lily could see the doubt in the woman's eyes. It was clear that she wished she had not decided to be called Miss Stormer. However, she turned back to the board, and started writing a title for the class to copy down.

"No it hasn't."

"Miss Potter, I believe I told you that you could not speak," said Miss Stormer, turning around quickly.

"You would be mistaken there – you just told me I couldn't say what I _wanted_. Which is, by the way, a violation of a human right, the right to free speech, but what I wanted to say was that no, the authority my _father_ has, and I _don't_, has not gone to my head. I speak how I wish to speak to you because that is what I think I should do, not because I think I can because of my father. You have no way to legally stop me, other than putting me in detention, and there is exactly no proof that detentions have any effect. And they won't. So don't assume stuff about me, because I'm not some arrogant little rich girl who can be sorted out with a harsh hand. It would be a very bad idea," said Lily, growing angrier at the stupid little woman as she did. There was very little Lily hated more than assumptions; she considered it a form of stereotyping, which is prejudice, and often leads to judgement on sight.

"Lily Potter, you are just proving yourself wrong with that statement. Every arrogant little rich child can be sorted out with a few appropriate punishments, and if you are not among them, I suggest you prove it by closing your mouth, and listening," spat the woman, clearly furious. She snapped back around to face the board, but was interrupted yet again.

"She's right."

"Mr Qualls, do not support your classmate. She is wrong."

"No, she's not," said Leo forcefully. "You're stereotyping her, and that's not fair. And maybe if you stopped arguing with her, she would be able to hear what you aren't teaching us."

"Mr Qualls, I am not stereotyping anybody, and I am not arguing. I am trying to teach. If you listened to me, you would see that."

"Excuse me Miss, but they do have a point." Finn sitting at the back of the classroom, looking thoughtful, as Ryan Kinn, sitting next to him, stared at the argument in awe as it ensued.

"Mr Lancaster, it is very difficult for me to believe that these accusations from eleven-year-olds who have no experience with real life have any sway whatsoever. Now, I need to continue teaching," she said angrily, and turned her back on the class once more.

Finn ignored her. "That doesn't change the fact that they are right. There is no possible way for Lily's financial situation to affect her views on how you treat us. And none of us have no experience about what real life is like. If we did know nothing, don't you think we'd all believe we live in a fairy tale? With a fountain of youth and a fairy godmother? Or a happily ever after? Believe me; we know a hell of a lot more than you think. Being eleven doesn't make you stupid. It makes you young, naive maybe, but it doesn't make you stupid."

"Enough! This is Charms class, not a democracy, now all of you will be quiet, or you will suffer the consequences!" Miss Stormer practically screamed, and promptly turned and ignored the students, writing on the board and ordering that they copy.

"Too right it's not a democracy," Lily muttered. "It's a bloody dictatorship." Leo nodded in agreement as they bent over their parchment, the only sound the scratching of quills.

"I've had enough," said Lily to Jasper and Eva Weasley through her lunch of sausage and mash. "That woman is a slimy bitch – you should've seen her smug face when we finally stopped biting her head off. She thinks she's won, but believe me; she doesn't know what's hit her."

"I bet she doesn't," agreed Eva, eating her own food with as much gusto as you could if you were constantly trying to lose weight. "The only way she has control over this big lump is by threatening him with expulsion every time he says something out of place. Same with Jam and Freddie boy. They are stupid enough to believe she actually will cut out her best students," she said, nudging Jasper's elbow so it slipped off the table and he came very close to sticking his nose in his mashed potato.

"OK, Eva, one: I am not a big lump. Secondly, I've already got a detention for being covered in mashed potato and you very nearly gave me the opportunity to get another one. Thirdly, I am not Stormer's best student-"

"I know, that was about Jam and Freddie boy."

"-And finally; 'Jam and Freddie boy'?" finished Jasper.

"Yeah," said Eva, flipping her strawberry blonde fringe out of her face. "It's what I call James and Fred. You know that."

"Do I?"

"Yes, Jasper, you do."

"Oh."

There was a pause as Eva looked exasperated, and Jasper looked as nonchalant as possible.

"Anyway guys..." said Lily, interrupting the two fifth years' awkward moment. "How do I get this flipping woman to just bugger off?"

"Not saying that to her face is a starter," said Eva. "Jasper dearest, how many calories has this got in it?" she asked, pointing at a strawberry jelly.

"Seriously, Eves, why do you care so much?" asked Lily. "You're already stick-thin; losing any more weight will make you look like you're anorexic."

"You know what anorexia is?" asked Eva, surprised.

"Yes, I do. And I have done since I heard you being told off by Louisa for obsessing over your weight so much about two years ago. She mentioned it at least three times," said Lily.

"Oh."

"Oh indeed."

Silence ensued between the three people; or at least until a large boy in Hufflepuff robes, and two girls: one Slytherin and one Gryffindor, who looked like they were two or three years above Lily, walked up to them as they ate.

"Oi, you, you're Potter, in't ya," the boy said loudly, in a voice that was far gruffer that it would've sounded had he spoken naturally. Lily raised her eyebrow at the large boy. He was about twice the size of Albus, and Albus was not exactly small, but most of his weight looked like fat. He had a pale, flabby face, and a buzz cut he clearly thought made him look hard, but Lily thought he looked ridiculous. He looked like a bully. The two girls on either side of him both looked fairly similar to each other. Each was tall and busty, with bleached blonde hair straightened so much that it looked flat and limp, an orange fake tan and more make up than should fit on a single face. They had all adjusted their school uniforms so their ties had knots wider than they were long, and the two girls were wearing skirts that looked more like belts in the wrong place.

"If you're directing that 'oi, you' at me, I would reconsider how you choose to address people if you think I'm going to respond positively," said Lily, pushing her hair out of her face and putting another mouthful of food into her mouth. The boy looked more than a little surprised. Lily guessed that he had never had such a complex sentence directed at him before.

"We can call you whatever we want, we have no need not to," said the Slytherin girl, speaking in an irritating high, breathy voice that made her sound utterly retarded. "Gerald, she'd being rude to us, we need to set her straight."

Lily burst out laughing.

"What? Do you find being rude to us funny? Do you think that you can just laugh at us whenever you want?" asked the Gryffindor girl, in a voice exactly the same as the Slytherin. If it weren't so pathetic, it would have been slightly creepy.

Lily just laughed harder, Jasper and Eva joining in. Soon all three of them were hitting the table, tears of mirth dripping down their faces. The three other teenagers looked completely shocked, as if each peal of laughter was a slap in the face. Soon, it appeared that they had had enough.

"Pennie, I really think that we need to shut these people up," said the Slytherin, and the Gryffindor responded with a nod of the head.

"Yes Sienna, we really should."

"OI!" Gerald roared in his fake gruff voice, seeming to think that he was a little forgotten in the conversation between the two girls. "SHUT UP!"

Lily's face was still crinkled in laughter, but she quietened for long enough to respond.

"I could, but then it wouldn't be so funny watching your attempts to make me," she said, and laughter started pouring out of her mouth again. They were starting to get some funny looks from the other students.

"Right, that's it Potter," said the two girls in unison. Gerald walked around the end of the table, arriving behind Lily's seat, bodily picking her up by the waist, and he had her in a headlock before the others had stopped laughing. In fact, though none of them would ever admit it, Pennie, Sienna and Gerald were becoming very unnerved when they noticed that all of the other Weasleys and Potters could see what was happening, and every single one had started laughing; even Lily was still giggling.

"Oh, isn't your family friendly, laughing at the runt in a headlock," taunted Gerald, tightening his hold on Lily's neck to try and choke her laughter away.

"Oh, I don't think that's what they're laughing at," spluttered Lily, her hair covering her face. This could've been a good thing – Gerald had stopped her laughing, but he hadn't stopped her grinning.

"She has a point," said James from further up the table, calming down enough to explain the actual situation to the bullying fourth years. "My God, it's nice to not be in your position for once, Gerald."

"Oh yeah? And why is that?" asked Gerald, his fake voice and presumably tiny brain trying, and failing, sarcasm.

"Because, you don't know I can do this," Lily choked out, and before Gerald had quite worked out what was happening, Lily had somehow slipped out of his grasp, spun around him to stand in front of him, and kneed him in the groin, hard. His expression became one of someone in excruciating pain, his eyes watering, as he let out a small groan, and doubled over, clutching his nether regions.

The laughter coming from the Weasleys doubled in strength, and all of the other first years, who had sat together further down the table, were practically falling off their seats. Sienna and Pennie were staring, slack-jawed, at Lily, who had calmly sat back down on her seat, and returned to eating her sausages. Suddenly, both of them started yelling at once.

"Look what you did, you fucking bitch!"

"Do you have any idea how much you hurt him?"

"You really don't deserve the name human to do something like that!"

"It's people like you that screw up life for the rest of us _normal_ people!"

"Oh, do shut up," said Lily, standing and walking around the table. She stopped before the two girls, each of whom was at least five foot seven due to their heels; more than a foot taller than Lily's four foot six. She was a very short eleven-year-old. All Lily did was reach up, and jab the soft patch of skin underneath their ears, immediately knocking them out cold, but she still had to wipe the heavy layer of foundation that had transferred on to her finger on her robes; something she was not best pleased by.

Suddenly, Lily realised that she had just beaten up three people, each three years older than her, on her first day of schooling, right in front of all of the teachers. She looked up at the table curiously, trying to see the reactions of the teachers. Interestingly, there was only one that was noticeably furious. _And of course it's going to be Miss Stormer_, thought Lily idly. The various heads of houses looked mildly irritated, and McGonagall was definitely annoyed, but what Lily found fascinating was that the rest were looking amused and trying unsuccessfully to hide it – all except for Hagrid, who was roaring with laughter. But then, he knew that was the type of thing that he expected of Lily.

"MISS POTTER!" Miss Stormer was bellowing. "How _dare_ you! You should _never _do such things! Detention! Every night this week! Report to Filch at seven o'clock this evening!"

"Wow. Apparently the arrogant little rich girl charm she thinks I possess affects her too. That could have been a hell of a lot worse," Lily said, surprised. "Right, we've got to go to next lesson," she said, and walked past Gerald, who was still whimpering on the floor, and Sienna and Pennie, who were just returning to consciousness.

Forty minutes into double Potions, and Lily's success in the Great Hall was still all that was on the minds of the first years. They were only learning the basics of potion safety and care, so it was still easy to just mindlessly write. It wasn't exactly hard work. However, Lily was starting to get annoyed with the people who were coming up to her and asking her to teach her how to do it.

_We're working with Ravenclaw_, thought Lily. _You would think that they'd be smart enough to realise when they're being annoying_.

Lily was sitting on the same work bench as Astra, Cyrus and Finn at the back of the classroom, and was avoiding conversation with all of them, trying to block out the whispers of people around her. She felt her mood darken dramatically as she heard another person calling out to her. She ignored them.

"Lily." Astra shook her shoulder gently, snapping her out of her concentration. "I know you're a little upset with the world at the moment, people can be very annoying," she said, her voice dreamy and a little dazed, but it was comforting. "I don't think you should draw various animals just because you've finished your work though. They're reflecting your mood, I know, but that snake is really quite worrying. It looks like it's glaring." Astra was genuinely unnerved by the look of the black inked snake.

Lily directed her words at the snake she had drawn, not wanting to look up. She concentrated on it's eyes, and she imagined that she could see them moving, it's tongue flicking in and out to taste the air. "_I don't want you to make me feel better_," she said quietly. But that wasn't what she heard. Her eyes widened as she realised what she had said.

The noise that had come out of her mouth had been a spitting hiss.

"Lily..." Finn was sitting on Lily's other side, and he sounded a little worried. "Lily, are you a Parselmouth?" He asked softly. She just sat, thinking frantically to try and find a way to avoid the truth. "Lily?"

"Lily?" asked Astra, and Lily looked up into her eyes. Astra's own eyes widened, and worry showed in their sea blue - and violet - depths. Suddenly, the expression changed. Astra's eyes showed terror. "No, no, it's not possible," she murmured, before shaking herself, and turning back to her work. Lily was worried by her reaction. She had known people to be scared by Parselmouths, but she hadn't thought that Astra would be judgmental. It didn't seem to be like her.

"Lily? Are you?" Lily looked quickly to Finn, but turned away again almost immediately. She didn't want to see the horror and fear in his eyes as he worked out what Astra had done.

She nodded silently.

There was silence on the table for a moment. Lily was surprised as she heard Finn's voice, but without the same expressions that were on Astra's face.

"So?" Relief flooded through Lily. "So what? Who knows – it could come in handy," said Finn, smiling at her. She smiled back.

"I was worried for a moment then. I thought you'd hate me," Lily said. "Most people do hate Parselmouths."

"Huh. Weird," Finn replied thoughtfully. "But I'm not judgemental. Plus you knocked out two girls about a foot taller than you, as well as incapacitating someone else at least three times your size. You're way better to have as a friend. You're a powerful little midget," he said, grinning.

"I can prove that if you call me that again," she said. "If I can incapacitate them, sure as hell you'd die." Her forced straight face collapsed, and she smiled.

"Please don't prove it too painfully. I want to go through the pearly gates intact," he said. Lily raised her eyebrow.

"How do you know you're going through the pearly gates? How do you know you're not going to visit Satan?"

"Because I have never knocked anyone out – you're definitely going though."

"Oh, believe me, I would, but Satan got so effing pissed off with me chucking his tridents out of the window that he got a restraining order against me. I'm not allowed in Hell anymore," she said cheerfully.

"Oh dear God," Finn said, sighing in exasperation. "You got out of Hell by _annoying Satan_? Damn, I wish I'd thought of that."

"Oh, it wasn't that fun going through all of the court dates and papers, blah, blah, blah," she replied, a smile still on her face. "Hey, I've had something I don't like telling people forced out of me. You have to tell me something as payment."

"We never had that deal."

"I just made it. And I already did my part. Your turn."

"They don't work like that."

"This one does."

"Fine," said Finn. "I used to be in a church choir, even though according to every member of my family, including me, God is a small tortoise in the Disc world, in the middle of a desert with one believer left, claiming he is the Great God Om."

"O-kay..." said Lily. "Was _not_ expecting that one..."

"It's what you get for telling me to say something I don't like saying."

"I can't help that." Lily shrugged. "Have you read Small Gods then? Terry Pratchett?"

"Yeah, he's a genius. It's a pity he doesn't write anymore."

"Hello children! Have we finished our work then?" Professor Flibbin had walked up to the desk without them noticing, and he rubbed his hands together as he read through the work. "Excellent, children, excellent! This is the standard of work I expect! If you could just put in some detail as to why we need to protect ourselves and care for potions properly, and you will have completely finished!" As the professor walked away, both Lily and Finn started laughing. The sight of that wobbly moustache was enough to make Voldemort smile.

"I'm never going to get over that," Lily muttered through giggles.

"Me neither," replied Finn, also laughing, his brown eyes bright in the gloom of the dungeons.

As their laughter subsided, Lily looked thoughtfully at Finn's hair. "You know, every time he has come up to us today, your hair has sort of gone _whoosh_," said Lily, gesturing with her hands to show that it had flown backwards. "Does it dislike happy, or something?"

"I dunno. Maybe it's just weird. Yours is really depressing, it doesn't do anything."

"Are you insulting my hair?" asked Lily.

"I never said that. I just said that it doesn't do anything, not that it's bad," Finn replied.

"That's because it's an awesome colour," said Lily. She was quite proud of her hair. It was the colour of a cherry, and the darkness of the red against her pale skin was an effect she quite liked. She didn't know anyone else with hair like hers.

"I've just realised we're talking about hair," said Finn, looking disgusted at himself. "I feel like I should buy a motorbike now to make me feel more masculine."

"I'm getting a motorbike when I'm old enough," said Lily idly. "Dad says his godfather had one, and I really think they're awesome," she said, a dreamy sort of happiness in her expression.

"Lily. Stop ruining masculinity for me."

"Sorry."


	8. Detentions Aren't Bad

**Author's note:** I'm alive! Hehe... Sorry it took so long to update... I had to sort out a load of GCSE stuff at school, then it took ages to write, then my beta wouldn't beta... And on top of all of that, my internet suddenly decided it had had enough. So yeah. All in all, not the best time for fanfiction. But it's here now, and it's gaining a plot! Haha :) Anywho... please read and review, and I'll update chapter nine asap :P Hehe :P

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Lily walked slowly along the corridor. She stared around her, absorbing her surroundings, and attempting to memorise them. She knew for a fact that she would fail.

Having returned the Cloak and Map to her older brother, much to her chagrin, she was completely and utterly lost. She honestly didn't have a clue where Filch's office was, and it was already 7 o'clock.

_Great_, she thought. _My first detention, and I'm late._

Lily suddenly saw someone walking in the opposite direction. Upon closer inspection, she saw it was Scorpius Malfoy.

"Oi! Scorp!" Lily shouted at the blonde boy, jogging up to him. He raised his eyebrow at her, but couldn't disguise the look of apprehension on his pointed face.

"Yes?" he asked. "If it's concerning pies, I'm leaving."

"Well…" said Lily, looking up at him, plastering a look of innocence across her heart-shaped face. _I hate being short_, Lily thought to herself, irritated. She laughed out loud, however, when Scorpius narrowed his eyes and walked off.

"Alright, Scorp, I'm kidding," she called after him, jogging up to him again. He stopped and turned, sighing exasperatedly.

"Fine. What is it?" he asked.

"Do you know where Filch's office is?" she asked. Scorpius smirked slightly.

"Oh yeah, detention," he said, the smirk never leaving his pale face. He checked his watch, and the smirk grew. "And you're five minutes late already – tut tut Miss Potter." Lily raised her eyebrow. His expression lost some of its amusement. "Alright," he said, sighing. "It's on the floor below. Go down the stairs through that corridor, turn left, and it's the second door on the right."

Lily smiled. "Why thank you, kind Mr Malfoy. I shall see you soon – maybe I'll have a pie with me," she said, and saw Scorpius visibly pale before she skipped off, smirking to herself. She only had to mention the word 'pie', and Scorpius was wrapped around her finger.

As Lily hurried to Filch's office a floor down, she couldn't help but wonder at the size of the castle. Arriving at the correct door, Lily knocked, and almost fell forwards as the door opened immediately.

"You're late." Argus Filch stood in the doorway. His grey hair still had a few streaks of brown in it, and it hung lank around the bald patch in the middle to his shoulders. A disgusted expression twisted his features into a grimace as he looked down at Lily. Lily scowled in return – Filch was shorter than many of the students, yet he was still at least eight inches taller than she was. Being short was uncomfortable at Hogwarts – the average height for the older students was around five foot seven.

"In," directed Filch, his scratchy, hoarse voice harsh. Lily walked past him, into the office. It was small, over-filled with filing cabinets and a small desk covered in parchment and small cards. Filch limped past Lily around his desk.

"Revolting behaviour," he was mumbling as he scribbled on a fresh card. "Crime… knocking two fourth years unconscious and incapacitating a third… Suggested punishment… a weeks worth of detentions in the forest, working with Hagrid… that should do it…"

"Um, Mr Filch?" Lily said tentatively. She had been told many tales of how Filch was fighting ferociously for the 'old punishments' to be reinstated. From what she had heard, the 'old punishments' involved hanging children by their thumbs in the dungeons. "Does that mean I should, I don't know, uh go to Hagrid's instead of coming here every evening, then?" she asked innocently.

Filch ignored her. "You go down to Hagrid's hut now," he said grabbing Lily's shoulder and thrusting her out into the corridor. "He will tell you what to do."

The office door slammed in Lily's face.

"That was friendly," she said to herself, before turning around and attempting to find the stairs.

After wandering aimlessly for a good fifteen minutes, Lily finally found the main door, gently pushing it open. The cool evening air washed over her face, and she breathed in the scent. She loved the outdoors. Seeing Hagrid's hut, she jogged down the steps towards it.

Hagrid was standing outside his door, a large crossbow in his dustbin-lid hands.

"Abou' time!" he said, as he saw the redhead approach. "I've been standin' 'ere for twen'y minu'es!" He looked very indignant, grey streaks in his tangled dark hair. Lily smiled innocently.

"I got lost – it's a very big school, you know." Hagrid's expression softened, and he started walking towards the Forest.

"Alrigh'. Bu' yer do realise yer weren't supposed ter see me before Friday, so havin' detention already ain' gonna make yer Mum happy," said Hagrid, as Lily jogged after him.

"Yeah, I know. But Grandma and Grandpa always say that I'm too much like Dad's dad for my own good – apparently Dad's parents were in third or fourth year or something when Grandma left," said Lily, jogging to keep up with Hagrid's long strides. He laughed and nodded in agreement.

"That's defin'ly true," he said, smiling.

They walked around the back of the hut, past the pumpkin patch and onwards into the trees.

"Hey, Hagrid," said Lily, after they walked for about ten minutes. "What are we actually doing?" The trees were massive, black beams pointing up into the still quite light sky. The forest floor was full of branches and bushes, seeming to wait to snag on to her robes and trip her up. Hagrid was easily stepping over them, but Lily had to jump. Not that she minded – it was fun not just walking across a plain field for once. Besides, forests were, quite frankly, brilliant. There weren't really _any_ in Dover, it was all fields and sea, but when she went somewhere where there _were_ some, Lily loved them.

"Yeh know, I'm not tha' sure," said Hagrid, faltering slightly, and Lily caught up with him. "I didn' really ge' a lot o' time ter decide what ter do with yer. So, er, I guess…" Hagrid trailed off, his enormous wiry mane of silver-grey hair the lightest point in the darkness inside the forest. The light from the setting sun didn't seem to penetrate this far into the trees, leaving darkness all around them.

He kept leading Lily, though, on into the trees, into the shadows. Lily wasn't scared. Not a lot scared Lily. She knew for a fact that there was nothing to fear from the dark. There was nothing to fear from heights. There was nothing to fear from spiders – though she had yet to encounter any Acromantula. Snakes weren't scary, and often had very interesting things to say. There was no Basilisk, there was no monster hiding in the wardrobe or under the bed. And even if there was – if it hadn't attacked her yet, why should it now? She scrutinised the trees around her curiously, wondering if there were any interesting snakes she could talk to in them. Or cats. Though normally cats just babbled on about being hungry or just never said anything at all. For such elegant creatures, they really weren't very bright.

"Righ'," Hagrid said suddenly, coming to a complete standstill. "Jus', uh, go pick some leaves, I guess." Lily raised her eyebrow. Hagrid shifted uncomfortably. "I don' really know what ter do with yer, yeh see?" he said. Lily smiled, and turned to the trees.

"You know, it would probably be more interesting if what you _did_ do was tell me about all the stuff that lives here, while I, uh, pick leaves," she said, making air quotes as she said 'pick leaves'. Hagrid looked jubilant that she wanted to know about the creatures.

"Alrigh'," he said joyfully, directing Lily to a plant Professor Flibbin might need, and began talking his way through his animals. She was fascinated as she listened about the unicorns, the Bowtruckles, the Thestrals and the Acromantula. Her dad had never really gone into much detail about everything he had faced in the Forest; probably because it was one of the places he had done his greatest deeds, and he was ridiculously modest. Lily was so enthralled in Hagrid's explanation of the mostly unknown life of the centaurs that she failed to notice the chugging sounds of an engine until a bright light flashed straight into her eyes. Hagrid stopped talking immediately, and raised his crossbow. Lily looked around him curiously, and almost burst out laughing as she saw what had emitted the light.

It was a very dirty, clearly very old, very battered Ford Anglia.

"Hagrid," said Lily slowly, stifling her giggles with her hand. "Why is there a car in the Forest?" Hagrid relaxed when he recognised it, and sighed heavily.

"That, Lily Potter, is a _long_ story," he said. Lily just looked at him, her expression seeming to say 'I have time.'

"Oh dear Merlin, we'd better get yer back up ter the castle," he said suddenly, realising how dark the sky had got. His explanations had been particularly long-winded.

"Oh. Well, can you tell me why this car is here tomorrow then?"

And that's exactly what he did. Lily's detentions that week were pleasantly recreational, not really being much of a punishment, and more about story telling from Hagrid. By the end of the week, Professor Flibbin absolutely loved her, having received an enormous pile of various important ingredients for his potions, and Lily had about as much knowledge of her father's doings as he did, and apparently knew about as much about some of the magical creatures in the forest as many fourth years. Hagrid got very excited when describing his various pets, including a rather large three-headed dog named Fluffy, who was apparently still alive somewhere in the forest. Lily wasn't really bothered by the detentions, and perfectly happy spending time in the forest. She was genuinely enjoying her time there, especially when the old Ford Anglia was seen trundling around between the trees. She was amazed by how much her father had actually done, especially at such a young age.

Her mother, on the other hand, was not particularly pleased by Lily's little excursion in the Great Hall. Ginny Weasley was forced to send a Howler to her daughter, something she knew she would have to do right from the start; but never that soon. She hadn't needed to send one to James for at least a week. When the red envelope had arrived at Gryffindor table at breakfast, only James found it amusing – the rest of the entire hall was looking slightly pitying. All except for Sienna, Pennie and Gerald, of course. Harry sent a disappointed letter to his only daughter, stressing that she shouldn't knock out strangers, however rude they were being. It was _not_ something that should be done. The thing Lily found most funny, however, was the reaction of her Uncle George – in his reply to her letter, which she had eventually sent, having finally found the Owlery, he congratulated her on getting a detention on her first day of lessons; he and his late twin brother, Fred, were the only ones they knew who had matched that record.

The first few weeks of school were not particularly difficult to Lily. Jazz was always the first to master any spells or do her homework; as it turned out, she was a complete perfectionist and slightly worrying in the amount of time she spent doing work. Leo became gradually louder and louder as the days went by, attracting a little too much attention from teachers – but somehow he always managed to get the work done. Lily and Finn were also managing to stay on top of all of their assignments with relative ease – Cyrus appeared amazed that none of them had become Ravenclaws. Astra, on the other hand, refused to speak to Lily. It hadn't been much of a bother for the first few days, but soon it became apparent that Astra was actually deliberately avoiding her. And Lily didn't appreciate it one bit.

She chose to confront Astra about it – there was no such thing to her as leaving something be. Lily had such a short temper anyway, letting her simmer was probably the most stupid idea there was. So, after another Potions lesson with relatively odd conversations with Finn and the most depressingly infuriating praise she was constantly receiving from Professor Flibbin ever since she had returned from her detentions with piles of useful leaves, Lily cornered Astra outside the dungeons.

"Hey! Astra!" she shouted, muttering that she would catch up with Finn, Jazz and Leo, all of whom had become close friends of hers. Astra hesitated for a moment, her back stiffening, before she began walking again, faster than before. Lily glowered for a moment before running out in front of the blonde girl. Again, Astra stopped in her tracks, her blue and violet eyes widening behind her glasses, before attempting to duck her way around Lily.

"Oi! You're not getting away from me that fast, _Thomas_," said Lily harshly, grabbing on to the back of Astra's robes. Astra looked terrified, and other students were giving the pair very strange looks as Lily clung on to the black fabric with murder in her eyes. Though having murder in her eyes was not an uncommon occurrence for Lily, to people who didn't really know her, such as the struggling Astra, it was a truly terrifying sight. Lily was getting frustrated. _Very_ frustrated. It was early October, and she had been going for the past few weeks without any idea what was making Astra so uncomfortable. In lessons, the blonde girl would keep her head down, speaking little, but never to Lily; in corridors, as soon as she caught a glimpse of the blonde head belonging to Astra Thomas, Lily would see that blonde head walking quickly away from the noticeable red of her own; even at meals – if Astra was there when Lily entered the Great Hall, five minutes later, Astra would be gone.

Suddenly, Astra stopped moving. She stood straight, upright, and turned to face Lily's angry brown gaze with nervous defiance in her eyes. Lily looked up the few inches between their heights in slight surprise; it had appeared at first that Astra had the same eccentric personality as her mother, Lily's namesake. But this quiet, nervous side was actually scaring her – the normally unscarable. It didn't seem right.

"Right," said Lily firmly. "I need to know something." Astra's worried gaze became slightly more worried. From her eyes, everything seemed slightly… well, worrying. It was impossible for Lily to see it herself, but her eyes, in that one Potions lesson a month ago, had actually _changed colour_.

And Astra knew, through all the stories she had read, all of the legends and myths, that colour-changing eyes in an eleven-year-old witch only meant one thing.

And it terrified the pants off her.

But her gaze didn't drop. She didn't dare. The only person Astra had told of her suspicions was her brother, but for some reason, Cyrus didn't care. Cyrus wasn't bothered by the fact that there was a girl in his year who was possibly one of the most famous, yet unmentioned, awed, yet feared beyond belief beings there was in the wizarding world. That, more than anything, scared Astra Thomas.

"Astra, I want to know why you are avoiding me," said the redhead suddenly, a firm, commanding tone that Astra involuntarily flinched at. Lily's eyes narrowed, and Astra saw them flicker for a moment. For a second they were just black orbs.

"I- I don't know what you mean," the young girl stuttered, knowing as she spoke that Lily would not believe the lie. Astra had never been a good liar. Again, Lily's eyes flickered to black for a moment, and Astra flinched once more.

"You know perfectly well what I mean, _Thomas_," snapped Lily, jabbing an accusing finger into Astra's face. Astra looked around her, but there was no one. Everyone had gone to dinner. "You know what I mean _inordinately well_, and I will not rest until I have a decent answer," Lily spat. Again, Astra winced. She cursed herself silently – why was it that people like that always terrified her? But still, she said nothing. Lily folded her arms and tapped a foot. Her eyes were glaring at Astra, who could not help but notice the darkness that enveloped them every so often. It was incredibly unnerving.

But still, Astra uttered no response.

Heaving a heavy, exasperated sigh, Lily stood up straight.

"Fine," she said shortly, and stepped back. "Fine, tell me _nothing_. Give me _no reason at all_ why someone who I thought I could be friends with has just turned their back and keeps _running away_ from me." Astra winced. 'Running away' was _harsh_. Lily turned to go, but after only a few paces down the empty corridor, she turned back.

"Oh, and believe me, I _will_ find out."

And Astra did believe her.

_Well, that's what you get_, she thought to herself bitterly, watching the shorter girl's retreating back. _One thing you can trust a Sorceress with; finding something out._

"Hey Lils," said Finn as Lily sat heavily opposite him. "What was the Astra interrogation about?" Jazz raised her eyebrow as Lily groaned and sagged in her seat.

"Ugh," said Lily, a scowl coming over her pale, lightly freckled features. "She won't tell me what I've done. I mean, after pointedly avoiding me for the last month, without me having _any_ idea why, don't you think it would be decent to actually _tell me_?" Leo looked up briefly from the mountain of food on his plate – on which Lily counted at least six chicken drumsticks and five sausages – to give Lily a pitiful look. Lily threw an apple at him. She couldn't stand pity. Leo shrugged, and returned to his food with slightly worrying vigour. Lily smirked – if he hadn't been distracted by the food in front of him, he would have cried out in pain, and glared at her reproachfully for being hit in the nose by an apple. It had happened many times in the four or so weeks she had known him; for some reason, although being one of her best friends, Lily found many things annoying about Leo – and Finn, for that matter. But he got fewer apples in the face, and more books. It seemed ever since the first break Lily had placed in his nose, it had created a strange resistance to her.

"How is it possible for you to eat that much?" asked Jazz suddenly, and Lily looked round to see the Japanese girl with a revolted, yet still curious, expression on her face. She looked to Lily for support, but Finn raised his eyebrow in amusement as Lily just shrugged, uttering a nonchalant noise as she piled her plate with almost twice as much food as was on Leo's.

"Oh dear _Merlin_," said Jazz sadly, flopping her head on to her arms at the two first years. Finn just sat, repressing laughter as he watched the two eleven year olds practically inhale their food, as well as the Japanese one sighing heavily with her head on her arms.

His self-restraint finally failed, and he let out a shout of laughter at the completely unchanged scene in front of him. The reactions just made him laugh more: Leo stared at him, bewildered, before shrugging and returning once again to his food; Jazz glared at him with intensity rivalling that of Lily Potter when angry – which was saying something – until she ducked under the table and pulled a book out of her bag, and buried her nose in it; Lily didn't look up, and threw the plate next to her at him. It hit him like a discus, and he just laughed more.

And so the normal routine for their dinners was set. Lily and Leo would constantly over-eat, Jazz would hit her head against her arms, occasionally pretending to kill herself with a fork, and Finn would get a plate thrown at his head. However, Lily couldn't help but ponder over the reasons for Astra's distancing. It was driving her utterly insane; she couldn't stand not knowing why she was being ignored. It wasn't until just under two weeks later, on the fifteenth of October, that she had even the slightest clue why.

Lily was sat in the Gryffindor common room, ridiculously early in the morning, just staring into the gradually lightening sky. She had had a bad night's sleep; the dream she hadn't for a month haunted her – but the more she tried to cling to the specifics, the more they slipped through her fingers. It was that birdsong – that terrifying, haunting, creepy birdsong. The echoes reverberated in her head, and had done since four in the morning; when the vision had scared her awake.

It was raining. The patter of the raindrops against the high window she was staring out of soothed her as she sat, curled and warm, in one of the big, squashy armchairs by the fireplace now filled with nothing but ashes. But even now, hours later, she was still not rid entirely of the memory.

…_Pitter patter…_

The noise was so soothing to her… It made the birds seem further away… Jim jumped on to her lap, currently black and purple, and she idly scratched his ears as he purred loudly… Lily smiled slightly as she felt her eyelids getting heavier…

…_Patter pitter…_

Her eyelids were so heavy…

As Lily drifted into a deep slumber, early that Thursday morning, the dream returned to her. Again, she was alone, curled on the ground, trying to stop hearing the birdsong that was repeating over and over in her mind. It was cutting through her like a knife, attacking every fibre of her being and every thought in her mind with incredible strength and agony. If someone had seen her, they would probably have noticed the cold sweat that was breaking out all over her body, and the way her eyes darted under her eyelids. But she didn't know that – the only thought that was in her mind was the fear, the pure unadulterated _terror_ that coursed through her veins. All she wanted was to get it out, was for the fear to _leave_…

It was seven in the morning. Leo woke with a huge grin plastered on his face, before he had even opened his shining grey eyes. And, to the horror of his dorm-mates, he proceeded to jump up and down on his bed, shouting as loudly and as joyfully as he could.

"IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! I'M TWELVE! IN YOUR FACE, ELEVEN YEAR OLD MINIONS!" he yelled, pointing at Henry, Ivan and Finn in turn as they all sat up in shock and glared at him.

"IT'S MY BIRTHDAY, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY, IT'S MY-"

"IT'S GOING TO BE YOUR LAST DAY IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP!" roared the voice of an extremely angry Russian 'eleven year old minion'. Leo was so surprised at Ivan's outburst that he actually _did_ shut up, sitting down on his bed slowly. But then, he suddenly registered the large pile of presents on his bed, and immediately started tearing the wrapping paper off them. He was soon completely submerged in paper.

"_No WAY!_" Leo yelled suddenly, ten minutes later, completely oblivious to his friends having got up and started putting their uniform on as he burst out of the pile of coloured paper and scared Henry so much, he fell over backwards, yelling at the top of his voice. Leo completely ignored Henry, holding up the new Nimbus 3000 above his head. It had only been released the previous week, and although it still wasn't as fast as the Firebolt that had been around for the last twenty or so years, it was the next best thing. Completely ignoring his friends, he jumped on the broom and flew straight out of the dormitory door after Finn, who was just leaving. If Leo hadn't been so excited, he probably would have been hurt at the lack of response his friends had on his birthday. As it happened, he was so excited, he completely forgot that the walls went _round_ with the spiralling stairs. And he flew straight into them – falling off the broom and rolling down the stairs right in front of Finn.

He tumbled down the entire flight of stairs, but hardly even noticed the fall. Finn stood, utterly shell-shocked as Leo stood back up and jumped right back on his broom, following after him.

"Oi! Leo!" he called, tying his tie as he walked after his friend. "You do realise you just fell down the entire flight of stairs, then _got up again_, don't you?" Finn was very confused – he normally went down and sat in the common room in the mornings to wait for Leo and the girls, always seeming to be the first dressed, and he also knew that Leo was the last to get up – like Lily, apparently – but what was _really_ bewildering him was the simple fact that Leo didn't actually _care_ that he had just fallen down the stairs. Simply because he had a broom.

"Yeah, I know!" shouted Leo gleefully from somewhere near the ceiling of the common room. Finn gazed at him incredulously. He was in complete shock over the sudden change in Leo. It was already clear that the now twelve year old wore his heart on his sleeve, but this was just taking his excitement to new levels. Finn sighed, and sat down on one of the chairs, shoving the sleeping cat that belonged to Lily off the book he had left there the night before. Jim mewed indignantly, his fur becoming a venomous orange, and stalked off to sleep under the chair opposite him.

And that's when he saw Lily on the chair.

He looked around for a moment to make sure that there was actually no one else in the common room, and turned back to the sleeping Lily, bemused.

_Alright… Today is just weird_, he thought to himself.

But then he _heard_ her.

It was just a whisper, but it was pained and quiet.

"_No_."

Finn had always been observant – quite possibly too much so – but if there was one thing he knew from his many younger cousins, they never cried quietly. No one, not a single person, ever cried out in pain, sorrow, loss, _anything_, quietly. Not unless it was just too much.

Finn flinched as he remembered when it had been too much for him.

"Mummy? Where's Daddy?" a four year old Finn Moore had looked at his mother expectantly. He had noticed recently that his dad hadn't come home. And that in itself was observant – his father had always left for work before he woke, and come home after he went to bed. But his dad hadn't come home at all for at least a week.

_He watched Janet Moore take a deep shuddering breath as she paused in washing the dishes._

"_He's gone for a little while," she said, and Finn could easily hear the note of sorrow in her voice that a regular four-year-old would have missed._

"_But… He hasn't been here for a long time yet…" he had said, confused. But his mother had refused to give him a straight answer. That was the problem with Janet Lancaster – she had never tried to give him a proper answer, however much he begged for it, if she thought it would hurt him. So he had learnt to listen._

_Over the next few weeks, he had noticed something. His father was not seen even once, but his mother was going out in suits a lot more, leaving him with the babysitter. When she held him, there were no rings on her hands. And when he went to pick up the post one day, it wasn't addressed to Janet Moore any more. It was addressed to Janet Lancaster._

"Mummy," he had said carefully that day. "Mummy, you're not married to Daddy any more, are you?" But he knew the answer before it came.

He looked carefully at Lily. Her whole body was trembling, so slightly that it was almost impossible to see. But he could. And he could see the way she was covered in a sheen of sweat as she lay, curled in the chair. And he saw the way her eyes moved, flicked in different directions under her eyelids.

"_Make it end_…"

He frowned at her sleeping form, concerned, and was about to reach over to shake her awake, take her out of the nightmare, when he didn't need to any more.

"Hey, this ceiling is so _clean_!" called Leo from above them. "I wonder how they do it- WAAAAH!" He shouted loudly as he lost concentration, and fell straight out of the air. And landed right on top of Lily.

She screamed piercingly as she was jolted awake, causing Leo to yell, and fall off the chair. Jim yowled and streaked across the floor, a black and green blur, to hide under a table across the room. Lily looked scared, and stared, wide-eyed at the blonde boy in his pyjamas on the floor. Finn was surprised – she wasn't being herself. Normally, he knew she would jump up, kick Leo in places that should never be kicked, and then storm off. But this Lily – she was shying away from him, curling tighter in the chair. Her eyes were hidden from him by a curtain of dark red hair that fell before them as she turned away. This Lily scared him.

"Lils?" he said uncertainly, looking at her, concern in his eyes. He flinched as she turned to face him sharply, and her face showed utter terror. He was scared for her. She looked away from him, just as quickly, as Leo remained on the floor, groaning. Lily pressed herself against the back of the chair, looking for all the world like a caged cat being taken to the vets.

"Lily, look at me," he said quietly. She flinched, turning her head further away from him. "Lily," he repeated. "Lily, look at me."

Slowly, she turned to face him. Finn looked into her eyes, and he was shocked, and scared out of his mind. He had come to know Lily as a confident, strong girl, and the incredible fear and _vulnerability_ he saw in her eyes changed his whole view of her. But he didn't even have time to comprehend what he was seeing of her emotions, because something else he saw shocked him above all else.

Her warm, happy dark brown eyes weren't brown.

They were ice blue.

Suddenly, Leo seemed to recover. He jumped up from the ground, and picked up his broom from where it had landed next to him.

"Hey Lils! Look what I got today!" he shouted happily, completely oblivious. Lily's eyes snapped towards him, and she even managed a small smile before he suddenly changed tack.

"Hey… Lily, why are your eyes blue?" Lily frowned, the blue in her eyes fading slightly – but it was definitely still there.

"What do you mean my eyes are blue?" she asked slowly, confusion plain on her face. She was slowly calming down; Finn could see her stop trembling, and become visibly less pale, but she remained hunched over in her position on the chair. Almost as soon as Finn noticed, however, she jumped up, and sprinted up the stairs.

"What did I do?" asked Leo, completely baffled. Finn just shrugged.

"Just go get dressed," he said, sighing. Leo needed no telling twice – a first – and bounded back up the stairs to his dormitory, a huge grin plastered across his face once more.

Finn sighed once more, but picked up his book as usual, and read, pushing worries about Lily's odd behaviour and eyes to the back of his mind. He didn't need to worry – she was strong enough to sort herself out.


	9. Confusion in the Mirror

**A/N:** Sorry for the very long wait! It took forever. And a day. And then I had to sit behind my beta to make her beta. But she did a very good job, considering this chapter was significantly squiffy before. Yay for loupylou :D

**Disclaimer:** Do I even need to say it? Fine... If I must ruin my own day... As much as I would love to own Harry Potter, the settings, characters, blah blah blah, I do not. I am very jealous of JK Rowling. Though if I did own them, I SO wouldn't have killed off Fred. THAT was just cruel.

* * *

Lily sat down at the breakfast table heavily. Jazz was sitting with Phoebe and Zara, but Lily chose instead to sit across from Finn and Leo, having told them to not wait for her. She had taken much longer than usual to get up properly that morning, feeling a little uncomfortable with being torn away from a nightmare in the common room by two of her best friends. She didn't know _why_ she didn't like it – but Lily was the type of person who didn't share problems. She was always so sure she could work them out on her own.

"_Bacon_," she said hungrily as she sat down, shoving her hair behind her ears and grabbing a platter of bacon. She hardly noticed the disgusted looks that Jazz, Phoebe and Zara were giving her from a few feet down, but she did notice the calculating one Finn was sending her way. She quirked an eyebrow at him curiously.

"You alright?" he asked her quietly, over the sound of Leo telling a bored-looking Henry and highly enthusiastic Ivan about his new Nimbus 3000. Again. Lily shrugged.

"Yeah, fine," she said. The truth was, Lily was anything _but_ fine. She had been incredibly confused all morning, ever since Leo had taken it upon himself to tell her that her eyes were blue. That was part of the reason for it taking so long for her to get up. Not only was the aftermath of her dream unsettling her, but she had an inkling that what Leo had said was more important than he realised.

"_Hey… Lily, why are your eyes blue?"_

She honestly had no idea whatsoever what that could mean. She may have simply misheard him, having been terrified half to death at the time; in hindsight it was difficult for her to actually believe anything she had seen or heard then. But Lily wasn't particularly good at hindsight, and was unbelievably stubborn – so as she piled bacon into her mouth, her mind was working overtime to try and understand it. For it _had_ happened.

Of course, he might have just been seeing things…

_Don't be stupid Lily. You saw that expression on Finn's face too – he looked like he was agreeing with Leo_.

Lily huffed, frowning, and completely ignored the odd glance she got from Finn. Just as he opened his mouth to ask her if she was all right, she abruptly stood, leaving the scrambled eggs on her plate as she sprinted out of the hall.

"What in the world is _wrong_ with that girl today?" asked Finn absently, and turned to Leo, who was staring at Lily's not-so-empty plate with a scandalised expression on his face.

"What in the name of Merlin's baggy y-fronts is wrong with her?" Leo shouted, still staring at Lily's plate. Finn stared at the blonde boy, confused, and his gaze switched rapidly between the food and Leo's horrified expression. He failed to stifle a laugh when he finally understood what Leo was on about. But then he became serious.

Lily had never left her food unfinished before.

* * *

Lily skidded down the corridor, her green Converse slipping as she turned the corners – she was convinced there was a slipping charm to prevent the wrong type of shoe being worn. It was completely useless if there was one, however; Lily had oddly good balance, born of years of flying and running around fields and along cliffs.

She wasn't thinking about anything like that, though.

Her eyes were full of determination, and her hair streamed out behind her as she sprinted. Turning a corner, she very nearly rammed straight into one of her cousins – probably Rebecca, the more studious twin, but it could have been Olivia, judging by the broad variety of profanities that spewed out of the mouth of the unknown cousin. But all the cousin was screaming at was a red and black blur. Lily just carried on running, the intent in her face never wavering. Suddenly, she spun around the right corner and straight into the library.

"Miss Potter! No running in the library!" a voice screeched. However, Lily was so intent on her mission that it went unheard, as she marched straight into the magical history section of the library and pulled out the first three books she saw about magical lore.

_Well_, she thought, opening the first book and leaning down to examine the contents. _You've got to start somewhere_.

* * *

"Hey, Finn, right?" Finn started and turned to face a tall Hufflepuff boy with spiked brown hair that added at least an extra inch to his height, but he looked like a young eleven year old despite being abnormally tall. Finn nodded and looked up at the boy inquisitively as the boy in question peered over the heads of the crowd swarming through the corridors – a feat that looked suspiciously easy for a first year.

"You're Lily's friend, right? Have you seen her? 'Cause I know she's all, I hate you, at Miss Stormer, but seriously, she's never late," the boy said. Finn recognised him as Jared Diggory, one of Lily's other friends. Finn shrugged aimlessly, and turned back to his conversation with Leo, who had somehow managed to bring his broom back into a conversation about whether Nargles were real or not. He really was scarily obsessed with that broom of his.

"It's just, well, she's not really... anywhere," said Jared, confused. Finn shrugged again. He didn't have any particular reason to want to join in a conversation about where Lily could be. She would turn up eventually.

"Class, enter!" a haughty voice called from inside the classroom. Finn sighed and entered the room. He really hated Charms.

* * *

"What the..." said James slowly, staring down at the Map. "Fred, is my little sister ill or something?" Fred looked confused as they hid behind a statue of the one-eyed-witch, which had a large hole in its back.

"I dunno – she ran out of the Great Hall in a bit of a hurry this morning though... Why?" the red head asked. James just continued staring down at the map.

"She's in the _library_." Fred's expression was utterly priceless.

"She's _where?_ Gimme that Map!"

* * *

"Aw, _shit_," Lily said quietly, checking the time on the watch that hung on a thin gold chain around her neck. She was ten minutes late for Charms.

Sprinting out of the library at top speed, she abandoned the books she had been reading, but scrunched up the notes she had been making and shoved them in her pocket. Flying down the stairs and along corridor after corridor, she finally arrived at the Charms classroom, where Miss Stormer was no doubt waiting. Angrily.

"Miss Potter! I see you have finally decided to grace us with your presence. Ten points from Gryffindor for such tardiness. Do you have a satisfactory explanation for your lateness?" Miss Stormer asked, not looking up from her writing – unlike the rest of the class. They had all begun staring at Lily as soon as she walked through the door as if she was the most interesting thing since Merlin. Clearly it was another writing lesson.

"I was in the library," Lily said defensively, and she could have sworn she heard a snort from Leo. She raised her eyebrow at him. He cringed.

"Were you indeed?" asked Miss Stormer. "I find that _very_ difficult to believe. Tell me where you really were, or I shall have to deduct more points."

"I was in the library! Seriously! I was looking up some stuff on Sorcery-"

"Oh, fancy yourself a Sorceress, now do you?" Miss Stormer asked sceptically. "A being of such power and notability that the whole wizarding world is scared of them? I find that even more difficult to believe than you being in the library." Lily glared at her teacher. She was ridiculous – too stupid to even bother listening to something that could well be true.

"I never said that, did I Miss Stormer?" Lily spat, saying her name with such contempt that some of the students actually flinched. Miss Stormer was too stuck on her high horse to notice, but if she had seen the way Lily's eyes were becoming darker and darker, she would have just sat down and left her alone. "I said I was researching them. Out of _interest_. Just because I have never shown that in _your_ classes, does not mean I am devoid of it." Miss Stormer glowered at the small girl from her position by the board.

"Another ten points for your cheek – and five for wearing the incorrect shoes with your school uniform. Take a seat, Miss Potter, and see if you can catch up with the rest of the class."

"I wouldn't say I was the one showing cheek, Miss Stormer," said Lily as she dumped her satchel down on the table next to Leo. Miss Stormer looked taken aback for a moment, before re-adopting the frosty expression she always wore when looking at Lily.

"I would not say that to me, Miss Potter, if you know what is best for you."

"But I would. I said I was in the library, you were rude about it. I said I was looking up Sorcery, you were rude about it. I pointed out that I wasn't the one showing cheek, it was you, and I even gave you reasons. You were rude about it," Lily said, her voice light; she knew it would annoy the teacher beyond belief.

"Miss Potter, _another_ five points from Gryffindor, and _sit in your seat_," said the teacher. Lily raised an eyebrow and sat down, fuming. She was determined to actually do the work, because it would send Miss Stormer over the edge. There was something so very addictive about irritating everyone you hated.

Half an hour passed. Lily was completely ignoring any distractions she was getting from Leo, keeping her head down, and writing so furiously ink splattered her nose.

"Miss," Lily called sweetly, raising her hand. "I'm having trouble with question two a. I don't understand what the point Halbert Dingle makes about the technique to using the levitation charm is insinuating. The question clearly states that his implications were clear in one direction, but I think they could also mean another thing," she continued, making her face a completely blank mask. It was very hard not to laugh at the shocked expression on the teacher's face. What she didn't know was that Jazz and Finn were both staring at her in amazement. They were the fastest workers in the class, and Lily had often matched their pace in lessons, but she had never overtaken them by an entire _page_ before.

"Miss Potter, I think you may be on the wrong page. We are working from seventy-_five_, and not seventy-_seven_," said Miss Stormer, the astonishment disappearing as quickly as a flame under a bucket of water.

"I finished that page," said Lily sweetly, and took a moment to drink in the shock and slight horror on the teacher's face before continuing. "And seventy-six. So can you help me on page seventy-seven please?" Lily watched with a sense of great satisfaction as Miss Stormer's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish for a moment, before she dumbly got up from her seat to help instruct the first year.

* * *

"Lily, what was _that_?" asked Jazz in amazement at the end of the lesson. "You were about quarter of an hour late, but you ended up writing at least two pieces of parchment more than me and Finn – and every question in complete, perfect format – and before you ask, yes, I did read it from the pile after you handed it in." Lily smiled slightly, feeling a little smug.

"I just worked really, really fast. I mean, Miss _knew_ I wasn't going to finish it, and it was just fun seeing her expression after I did. She was like a little goldfish who has just discovered its favourite food is made of dead fish scales," said Lily, smiling broadly. Jazz looked at her a little strangely.

"Right... Weird comparison..."

"Meh," said Lily, shrugging. "I have a weird imagination."

There was a comfortable silence for a moment, before Lily suddenly checked her necklace-watch, and uttered a short apology before sprinting off up the stairs. Jazz hadn't even finished asking why before Lily was completely out of sight.

* * *

"Lily! Is there an actual _reason_ you keep, well, disappearing?" asked Leo, after suddenly registering that Lily was completely ignoring him as she shovelled food into her mouth with much more intensity than normal. She glanced up at him, appearing slightly dazed, as if suddenly pulled back into the real world, to meet the intensely disgruntled expression of a sulky Leo Qualls.

"Huh?" she asked half-heartedly, before taking a massive bite of apple pie and sprinting off, still chewing.

"Dude, I just got snubbed on my _birthday_," Leo said to Finn, who appeared just as confused as Leo felt. However, as soon as Leo completed his sentence, Finn snorted into his pumpkin juice.

"Ha! Dude, have you even considered that she just got bored of you babbling on about your broom?" he asked, and Leo pouted at the laughter on Finn's face. This proved too much for Finn, and he exploded into fits of laughter. Leo huffed dramatically and turned back to his food. "Leo, you are such a _drama queen_," Finn cried between bouts of laughter. Leo promptly gasped, exaggerating offence, and turned his back on Finn, flicking his blonde hair as he turned. Finn collapsed even more, and flopped on the table, banging his fists against the table. Jazz soon joined in as she realised that Finn had put his head in his mashed potato.

"_Merlin_, you guys are such twits," she said, after recovering enough to just sound amused. She was, however, thrown back into fits of laughter as they both turned to her in complete silence with the exact same expression of affront on their faces.

"Jazz..." Phoebe suddenly said in a stage whisper to Jazz from where she was sitting with Zara across the table. "Why does Finn have mashed potato all over his head?"

Finn's expression suddenly changed from affront to shock, and then to bewilderment within the space of approximately half a second. Phoebe and Zara had to join the laughter flying from the mouths of the other first years.

Over on the Ravenclaw table, Cyrus glanced up for a moment, but already knew what the commotion was. It was probably something to do with the Weasley family, but the Gryffindor table always seemed to make the most noise. He raised his eyebrow slightly as he noticed that there was actually no red head at the centre of the laughter. Standing, he picked up the book he had been reading, and walked absentmindedly to the library. It was his usual haunt after dinner. People never seemed to want to go there, and Cyrus liked the peace he could find there.

"Lily?" he asked, surprised, as he saw the distinctive red hair at a book-covered table at the back of the library. He had never pinned Lily as a studying type. She looked up at the sound of his voice, looking momentarily lost. "You're in the library."

"Yep," she replied, before turning back to the books in front of her, scribbling down a few words on a scroll every so often. He raised his eyebrow once again at her clipped tone. She sounded busy; the way she was so engrossed in the massive tome in front of her only emphasised it.

"Any particular reason why?" he asked curiously.

"Your sister," she said, not looking up from the book.

"I don't think my sister is really the entire reason for you being in the library."

"Yep."

"Fine. Say it is. Why?" Cyrus asked curiously, sitting opposite Lily on the table.

"I want to know what the _hell_ is going on!" she cried suddenly, sending ink flying, and letting out a stream of profanities that he was sure her mother would not be proud of as it spattered all over her notes.

"What exactly do you mean when you say you don't know what's going on?" he asked curiously as Lily carefully mopped up the ink covering an entire roll of parchment with her jumper sleeve. Lily sighed, and took off her ink-covered jumper, leaving a faint black streak up her face.

"Your sister has been avoiding me for about a month," Lily said quietly. "I tried to confront her about it, but she acted as if she didn't have a clue what I was talking about. She just pretended nothing was wrong, and it's driving me _insane_ – and the worst bit is, I think I know what she's on about," said Lily, trailing into silence. Her eyes were unfocused, and an expression of confusion became resident on her small face.

"What do you know?" asked Cyrus quietly. He already knew what it was that was that was making Lily uncertain; he already knew what she was. But it didn't bother him, unlike how it affected his sister. Cyrus had always been the more accepting, less judgmental twin. He saw what someone was, and let them live their life. He didn't run away.

"It's stupid. Don't worry about it, I'm probably wrong anyway," Lily muttered hastily, grabbing the parchment and shoving it in her bag.

"What am I not to worry about? I won't think you're stupid, just tell me," Cyrus protested, but Lily ignored him, picking up her things and going to walk out of the library.

"You know, it's so much easier to see things for what they are when you tell someone else," Cyrus called, but all he got in a response was a glare from the librarian, a hook-nosed woman with a very bad perm. Lily was gone.

* * *

_What is it about myself_? Lily asked herself as she sat in the common room, staring into the embers of the slowly dying fire in mid December. It was almost the Christmas holidays, and she had still found nothing useful in the library. She didn't understand at all – she still had no clue whatsoever why Astra was avoiding her, or what to do about it. She sat there for hours, trying to figure out the riddle of it all. She thought back throughout her short life, through the time she had been at Hogwarts, and she tried to work it out herself for what must have been the millionth time. It was _hard_. All her reactions and interests just made her an odd person, but apparently she was more than that. She lacked the creativity to think of different ways to sort out what was wrong, and she lacked the perception to read deeply into them. But what was driving her insane was that she lacked the acceptance and peace of mind to just let it go.

She knew all of that, and she knew that she needed to give up. But yet, she was stubborn. So she still continued thinking.

Lily remembered Leo telling her that her eyes were an odd colour, but that was all she knew. Remembering something from a story her mother had told her years ago about Sorceresses, she had been quick to jump to the conclusion that she was one. But she doubted it. She had looked in every nook and cranny of the library for information about Sorceresses, but all she had were a couple of sheets of ink-splattered parchment proclaiming that they were incredible women who were nothing short of evil, could control the elements and were exceptionally advanced at lying and trickery.

Apparently, the idea of a Sorceress was just a myth, and it was chance that Lily's eyes just happened to change like theirs did.

But still, when settling with that conclusion, she just didn't feel _complete_. So she sat, staring into the fire, thinking that even though all the pieces fit to that conclusion, it wasn't the right one. She walked slowly to the portrait hole, pulling the Invisibility Cloak she had once again stolen from her brother out of the pocket of her favourite Metallica hoodie and throwing it over herself. It was long past curfew, and she didn't want _another_ Howler from her mother any time soon.

Slowly meandering along the halls, she continued pondering, but every result she came up with placed her at another dead end. She didn't even notice where she was walking until she stopped, finally finding herself in a large room, a room that was completely empty.

Empty except for a mirror.

Lily frowned, looking towards the end of the room with the mirror leaning against the wall. There was just something about the room – it felt like it was _too_ empty.

Confused for a moment, Lily stared at the mirror, seeing an odd inscription on the golden frame.

"_Erised... stra ehru... oyt... ube cafru... oyt on wohsi..._" she read quietly, and stared at it, bewildered for a moment. She didn't even bother to look in it, more concerned about what it said.

"_Erised_?" she mused quietly. "Is it another language?" Lily wasn't too bothered about the concept of talking to herself – she knew that when she did it, things seemed to make more sense. But the more she stared at the words, it seemed the less she understood.

"Having trouble?" asked a soft voice suddenly. Lily whirled around to find that the room was not as empty as she had thought. There was a portrait of an old man on the other side of the room. He looked ancient, with a long silver beard and hair, and a black, dead-looking hand, but his bright blue eyes seemed to twinkle with youth and vigour, and were full of knowledge and wisdom. Interestingly, the loneliness of the single portrait directly across from the mirror made the room seem even emptier.

"You're Dumbledore," she stated bluntly. Dumbledore smiled slightly.

"Ah, it is very refreshing to not be asked constantly who I am, how long I've been here, and so on," he said happily, and Lily raised her eyebrow curiously.

"I'm guessing that means that you don't want me to ask you why you have a portrait in a room that is completely empty except for an old mirror and an old man," she said, but her tone remained light and friendly; a complete opposite to the general suspicion and mistrust that was swirling inside of her. Nevertheless, Dumbledore's eyes seemed to twinkle a little more, despite the fact that they were merely painted on.

"Were you planning on it?" he asked curiously, but Lily had an odd feeling that he already knew what she was going to say.

"Nope," she said cheerfully. "But what I _am_ going to ask is why this room feels like it should be more... more... _full_ than it is," she continued, gesturing around herself at the blank stone walls and dark windows. It was curious, but slightly unnerving; everything about the room screamed that it should be filled with portraits, people, objects, life. She couldn't understand _why_ it felt like that; it was just a gut feeling.

"Ah, that is certainly one question I have never been asked before," he stated serenely. "I think the only reason for that idea is that none of them wish to see the Mirror behind you." Lily frowned slightly, and glanced at the mirror. To her it just looked like a regular mirror. She didn't even bother looking at it properly before switching her attention back to the portrait of Dumbledore.

"Um," she said, furrowing her brow in confusion. "Why? It's just a mirror." The portrait of Dumbledore looked surprised.

"I think it is fair to say that you are the first to not see anything remarkable about the Mirror of Erised," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. Lily tilted her head slightly, looking at him curiously, but still wary of the old man. "It does not just show a reflection."

Turning back around to face the glass surface of the Mirror of Erised, as it was apparently named, Lily looked into it properly for the first time. What she saw made her heart jump into her mouth, her insides lifting with what she could only describe as pure hope. She gasped loudly as she looked into the mirror and saw herself, standing exactly as she stood in the room surrounding her, wearing the same clothes, with the same Marauder's Map sticking out of her pocket and the same Invisibility Cloak abandoned a few feet behind her, lying in a dusty heap on the floor. There was just something so different about her.

The Lily in the Mirror looked properly _happy_. Lily knew that she had spent her entire life under the shadow of both of her parents, especially her father, and her two brothers, both of whom were loved by the rest of the school population (even if she honestly couldn't understand why in James' case). She always would.

But that was the problem. She didn't want to spend all of her life trapped beneath her parents, or coasting on their fame and success. She wanted to make her life her own, do better than them in some way, and do what she wanted _alone_.

But that wasn't the only thing about the Lily in the Mirror. The Lily in the Mirror stood with her head held high, her stature tall and proud, independent and strong – but the Lily she saw also had an air of success surrounding her; success and _knowledge_. What she saw frustrated Lily, but also enthralled her. It was what she truly wanted – to stand alone, not held back by her family, and to truly _understand_, and she wanted to be recognised for it. She wanted to not only be strong, independent, and successful, but she wanted to be seen as it.

She hated the Mirror for showing it to her.

She didn't want to be shown what she truly wished for – it was clear to her that that was what the Mirror of Erised was doing. She wanted to work it out for herself, not have her deepest desires shoved into her face by a piece of silvery glass. But what bothered her most of all was the way what she saw seemed to _mock_ her.

She glared at the glass, but the Lily in the Mirror refused to glare back. The Lily in the Mirror rose above it – _she_ wouldn't be bothered by such a little thing. Lily was getting angry. She just couldn't trust the Mirror in front of her.

What she was seeing was what she truly wanted – and what no one else knew. Because of that, she just couldn't bring herself to _trust_ something when it could see straight into her, and she didn't know how. But most of all, because of what it was doing, the Mirror of Erised _scared_ her.

Lily Potter didn't react well to fear. She became irritable and crotchety, she was touchy and a lot more likely to snap, and she became angry. All Lily wanted to do was get rid of the Mirror, and as the anger and fear coursed through her system, it felt like she had so much power at her fingertips. All she wanted was for the Mirror of Erised to get _away_, to break, smash, _crush_ into a _million pieces_-

There was a huge crack, and Lily was thrown out of her rage with almost as much force as it had been giving off in the first place. Slightly dizzy and disoriented, she twirled around her to stare at the Mirror of Erised. She didn't have a clue what had happened, but something definitely had.

There was a huge crack running vertically down the centre of the Mirror.

Terrified, Lily turned, honestly feeling helpless, grabbed the Cloak off the floor and fled the room.

* * *

The portrait of Dumbledore was amazed. He had never seen anything like that before, and he had lived for well over one hundred years, plus at least twenty more as a portrait. For the first time since he had been friends with Gellert Grindelwald, he was honestly unsure whether something was good or evil.

What he did know, however, was that whatever anyone chose to say, none had ever succeeded in breaking the Mirror before. Not the oldest, most powerful wizard known to man, with more than twenty years of practice. But an eleven-year-old girl had, after mere minutes. However, Dumbledore just had one question.

_Does she know what she is?_

_

* * *

_**A/N:** And that is the end of chapter 9 :) I know the Mirror of Erised bit was a little odd, but I think I got the point across. Anyway, please review :) It will make me happy, and when I'm happy, I write :D_  
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